How I Survived Being the Avatar
by ShadowFAIT
Summary: "What do you mean I'm the avatar! This is NOT how it's supposed to happen! I didn't ask for this!"   Jessica is stuck in the avatar world for the adventure of a lifetime. With an impossible destiny to fulfill, is she meant to save the world? Or is she doomed to fail from the start? adventure/humor/romance, NO Mary-Sues, OC/you'll have to find out!
1. Beams of Light and Girls Falling

Alright, if you're reading this then that means you have decided to actually give this story a chance. YAY! I think you will enjoy it. I randomly had the idea and thought it would be fun. An OC from our world popping up in the avatar world has been done before, but I'm pretty sure it's never been done like this.(at least I hope not otherwise I'm gonna feel really unoriginal).

The first few chapters are short, but they get longer pretty quickly. I suggest you try getting through the end of chapter 4 before completely shooting down this story.

* * *

"Ok, you've gone from _weird_ to _freakish_ Katara."

Katara stared in disbelief at where a tall iceberg had one been. "You mean _I_ did that?"

"Yep! Congratulations." Sokka said sarcastically.

The water below them suddenly bubbled as if it were boiling. The two stood up and back away just as a giant ice berg, ten times bigger than that previous one, popped out of the ocean. They stared in wonder at the oddly shaped iceberg. It was round and the texture made it look almost as if it had been carved. But what has inside of it was even more amazing. Two forms, and large one and a small one lay dormant within the ice. Katara swore that one was human. And that it had just opened it's eyes.

"He's alive! We have to help!"

Grabbing Sokka's club Katara iceberg hopped over the trapped boy.

"Katara wait!" cried Sokka as he followed frantically after her. "You don't know what that _thing_ is!"

Whether she had heard him or not Katara didn't show. She lifted the club and hit the ice as hard as she could. She hit it again. Compared to the size of the iceberg her blows seemed to get them nowhere, but on her fourth strike the ice broke and a loud hiss of air quickly flowed out of the ice berg.

* * *

Meanwhile a certain banished Prince was standing passively on the deck of his metal ship. He had been searching the South Pole for days. It was cold and it was boring and there was no sign of the avatar!

"Zuko, you've been standing there staring at the ice for hours now," commented his Uncle. He motion at his little table cluttered with his game of Pai Sho and hot tea. "Please sit. Why don't you enjoy a nice cup of calming Jasmine tea?"

"I DON'T NEED ANY CALMING TEA!" Zuko shouted. "I need to capture the avatar!"

_I know_, Iroh thought to himself_. You only remind me of that five times a day._

He sighed and looked up at the sky. Why must his nephew be so uptight? He should really just sit back and relax every now and then. It would probably do wonders for his angry scrunched up eyebrows.

Iroh's eyes widened.

"Prince Zuko."

"What?" Zuko cried, turning back to his uncle. This had better not be another offer for calming tea.

But Iroh didn't offer him tea. His gaze stayed fixated on the sky as he pointed upwards.

"Look…."

Zuko glanced up just as a blue beam of light descended from the sky. It came down and ended in the water not fifty yards from his ship.

_What could it be?_ He thought. _I'm pretty sure the southern lights aren't supposed to look like that._

Just then Zuko spotted something in the beam of light. It was so high up that it just looked like a small black dot. But it was falling rapidly.

"Uncle!"

"I see it," Iroh had noticed it too.

As it approached quickly Zuko realized that this falling object was much more than just an object. It was a person! The person was dropping headfirst. It's eyes were wide open and glowing brightly. Zuko saw those glowing eyes for no more than two seconds before it hit the water. There was a loud splash and the beam of light disintegrated, disappearing as quickly as it had come.

Another splash came from the side of the ship.

"Prince Zuko!" Iroh ran to the edge and looked for his nephew. Had he gone crazy? "What are you doing?"

Zuko ignored him, instead focusing on swimming as quickly as possible towards the spot where the person had fallen. The last of the ripples were flowing away when he reached it. Zuko tooked a deep breath and submerged himself in the frigid water.

Underwater he opened his eyes and spotted the person immediately. It wasn't very hard, considering their eyes were still wide open and glowing. Zuko could swear that they were staring straight at him.

Despite the open eyes the form was sinking like a rock. It wasn't moving at all. The Prince swam frantically before it got too deep to rescue, wrapped one arm around it's waist, and used the other to push them up to the surface.

Back at the ship Iroh had taken action too. He'd called up all the surrounding men, ordering them to find the rope and toss one end of it down to the water. Not long later there was a sharp tug on the rope and they quickly pulled it up to find a waterlogged banished Prince carrying…a GIRL?

No, Iroh was not going crazy. The person who had just fallen out of the sky through a beam of light was a young teenage girl! And he'd thought that he had seen it all.

Zuko dropped the girl on the deck and allowed his men to pull a dry towel around his shoulders. He blew some firey breaths into his hands to warm him up and clutched tightly at the towel. His wet ponytail stuck to the back of his head and his body involuntarily shivered. But that didn't stop him from instantly giving orders.

"Men, take this girl to the prison cells," he barked. "Make sure to give her some dry blankets. We can't have her freezing to death."

The soldiers looked down uncertainly at the unconscious girl. Her eyes had stopped glowing somewhere between the drowning and the boat. She was just a kid, and Zuko wanted her put in a prison cell? But when they glanced back up at their captain/prince the look on his face told them that this was by no means a _joke_ and that they had better obey him if they didn't want to take a dip in the South Pole's freezing waters. They nodded their heads dutifully. One quickly came forward and picked the girl up bridal style, carrying her away to the cells.

Iroh placed his hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"Prince Zuko is this really necessary?" he asked.

Zuko stared hard at his uncle. Iroh knew what he was thinking.

"You can't possibly? You can't possibly think that she's the avatar?"

"That is exactly what I think Uncle."

"But the avatar is supposed to be a hundred years old and an airbender. She couldn't be a day over sixteen! And her clothes resemble nothing of that of the airbenders."

"You saw that light Uncle!" shouted the prince. "You saw her drop from the sky and her eyes glow! What else could she possibly be? I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't just witnessed it with my own two eyes!"

"But-" Iroh still felt that something was amiss here.

Zuko took a deep breath and spoke calmly. "Look Uncle. I've been searching for the avatar for years now to restore my honor. And now the avatar has fallen out of the sky and landed merely a few yards away from my ship. It is my _destiny_ to capture avatar and take him—or her—back to the Firelord."

* * *

How was that for a first chapter? I promise she won't wake up and make Zuko instantly fall for her or anything like that. I avoid Mary Sues like the plague.

The next one should come out today or tomorrow, so no worries! Please review if you like this. I'm got a lot of fanfics and priority goes to the ones with the most reviews, so if you want chapters. Gotta give reviews! It's a nice little cycle I like to get going here in my stories!


	2. Is she really the avatar?

Chapters will be made longer after this one so that more can happen.

* * *

The sky was slowly darkening as the day ended. Iroh had gone off to bed, advising to Zuko that he should do the same. He'd merely shaken his head. The avatar had yet to wake up and he wanted to be wide awake when she did.

"Guard. Has the girl awaken?" he asked his soldier who stood before her cell. The man glanced back at the supine form to double check.

"Not yet Prince Zuko. She's hasn't moved since you captured her."

"Very well. You may leave. I will call for you if you are needed."

The soldier nodded and walked away, Zuko waited until he could no longer hear his footsteps before slumping on the metal bench in front of the cell. He looked in on the sleeping girl. They'd brought in a cot for her and a blanket to make sure she didn't freeze to death. It would be troublesome to go searching for the avatar all over again.

But why hadn't she woken up yet? Zuko had sent down the doctor earlier to make sure she was alive and he'd diagnosed her as being just fine. Aside from the fact that she was asleep of course.

Then a thought passed through the prince's head. A thought that had been floating around but he'd been unwilling to acknowledge. That he'd been afraid to acknowledge.

Was this girl even the avatar? His uncle was right. The avatar was supposed to be over a hundred years old and an airbender. She looked to be neither. Of course the clothes could have been a disguise to set them off. They were definitely odd enough. He'd never seen anything like them. She wore blue pants made of some material he was not familiar with. Her shoes were large and black with some odd curved green check on the side. Then there was her shirt. It was long sleeved and adorned with black and purple strips. Purple was not a color normally seen on clothes, since it didn't represent any of the nations. This shirt also had a silver line going down the front with a small piece of metal at the top of it. A weird bunchy cloth came off the top back of the shirt near her neck. Zuko guessed it was a hood, but he'd never seen one on a shirt before.

But she had to be the avatar. Who else would be capable of falling out of the sky and then landing in the water unharmed? And the glowing eyes. Maybe she came from the spirit world? A ghost? Zuko had heard of people crossing between the two worlds.

Had he been wrong? What would he do if this wasn't the avatar? He had to know!

Zuko stood up and unlocked the door to her cell. Then he quickly entered and went up to her.

"Wake up," he ordered.

The girl didn't stir. He'd have taken her for dead if not for the rising and falling of her chest. He banged the wall hard with his fist, ignoring the throbbing pain.

"WAKE UP!"

Nothing. Was she deaf? Growing impatient the prince grabbed her shoulders and shook her. He didn't shake her hard enough to hurt her, but he sure wasn't gentle. What would it take to make this girl wake up?

Suddenly her eyes popped open. The glowed like they had in the water. Zuko took a startled step back before regaining his composure and grabbing her wrist.

"Are you the avatar?" he asked in a stern voice. He wasn't asking to know, he was demanding to know.

She turned to face him. Her empty glowing eyes glared into him. It made him somewhat uneasy.

Then, her arm rose swiftly and swung forward. Zuko stepped back and took a defensive pose, but she wasn't aiming for him. The ship lurched as it came to an abrupt stop, throwing Zuko off his feet. When he looked up he saw that a giant needle-like shard of ice had pierced the cell wall. Also known as the side of the ship. She dropped her hand and the ice melted back into the ocean, leaving a gaping hole for her to escape through!

Zuko struck a fireball to block her escape but a quick flick of her hand sent a huge wave of air at him, blowing out the fire and crashing him into the wall. When he stood back up she was gone. Zuko's clenched fist started to steam as he realized what had just happened. She _was_ the avatar and he had just allowed her to escape!

* * *

"Okay! First time flyers hold on tight!" said Aang cheerfully as he lifted the giant bison's reigns. "Appa Yip Yip!"

The bison emitted a loud groan. It hit its tail against the ground, jumped high into the air…and landed in the water.

"Come on Appa, yip yip!" coaxed the young airbender, moving the reigns up and down. But Appa just floated through the water.

"Wow, that was truly amazing," Sokka commented sarcastically.

"Appa's just tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see," promised Aang.

Katara smiled down at him and started to turn away when she noticed the boy staring at her with a goofy grin plastered onto his face. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

Aang immediately stopped. "O-oh. I was smiling?"

Sokka groaned as Appa slowly made his way to their home.

The ride was pretty quiet for a while after that. Appa was taking his time and the three were all just laying back and relaxing. At some point in the late evening Katara crawled over to the edge of the saddle and lay her head on it while looking thoughtfully down at Aang.

"Hey."

"Hey," Aang greeted. "Whatcha thinking about?" He smiled calmly in his laid back position.

"I guess I was wondering, you being an airbender and all, if you had any idea what happened to the avatar?" Katara asked.

Aang sat up. "No, I didn't know him. I'd heard of him, but I never actually got to meet him. Sorry."

"Okay, just curious. Good night," Katara turned and went back to sleep.

"Sleep tight," Aang called after her.

_Wait, _he thought._ What happened to the avatar? She made it sound like he'd just disappeared. I don't remember that happening._

Not really sure what to think about this situation Aang lay back down on the soft fur of Appa's head and entered a fitful sleep.

_There were loud crashes and booms coming from all around him. Aang cracked open eye. He sat up straight as another bolt of lightning shattered the stormy skies around him. Looking around he found himself alone on Appa flying in the middle of a huge storm. Suddenly he was at the reigns, screaming for his life and he struggled to keep Appa flying. The two crashed into the thrashing seas. Appa's head rose above the water and groaned loudly. But a huge wave crashed upon them and they went under._

_'_This is it. I'm going to die here,_' thought Aang to himself as his hands let go of the reigns and he slowly drifted away from Appa._

_Just then, Aang saw something in front of him in the water. A figure. A girl! But her eyes were glowing and staring right at him. Her mouth opened, it glowed too, and spoke something. Aang couldn't hear what she said. He was going to ask her to repeat it when she swiftly moved her hands and did some odd movements. Aang saw the water around him and Appa spin and start to freeze. Then everything went black._

* * *

I know this chapter was a bit short, but I plan to make them longer from here on. Now you see that little button below that says review? It's how you get the next chapter! Subcribing/favoriting gets you a virtual cookie too!


	3. Penguin Sledding For My Birthday

Here my character finally wakes up! Enjoy!

* * *

"You know, last time I checked: _Humans can't fly_!"

"Check again!"

Huh, what? Did I leave the tv on again? Wait a minute, I didn't have a tv in my room. I groaned as a sharp light threatened to penetrate through my eyelids. I wasn't ready to wake up yet. It was cold and I didn't feel like getting out of my blanket. That and it was my sixteenth birthday. I should get the privilege of sleeping in right? Wait, it was my birthday! Maybe my parents got me a tv!

"Aw guys you shouldn't have!" I sat up straight in anticipation.

I was greatly disappointed. There was no tv. Heck, there was no _my room_. I was in a freaking tent! Was this some sort of prank?

The flap of the tent was open by just a few inches, allowing me a peak at what was outside. I expected woods, or at least grass, but all I could see was white, white, _WHITE_! _That would explain why I'm so cold, _I thought as I rubbed my arms to keep arm.. Wrapping my blanket around me I stepped outside to find out what everybody was cheering at.

I nearly fainted at the sight. I saw Aang. No kidding. I was staring right at the little airbender just as he grinned goofily at Katara. I knew what came next.

"Oof!"

Yep, he crashed into the snow tower. Cue Sokka.

"My watch tower!" he said in a squeaky voice.

Katara ignored him and went over to help Aang up. "That was amazing."

I watched as Sokka attempted to scavenge the remains of his ruined tower only to have a pile of snow collapse on him. I burst out laughing. It was even funnier in real life.

When I finally stopped my random fit of laughter I realized how silent it had become. The whole "village" was staring right at me. Including Katara, Sokka, and Aang. Crap.

"So you're awake I see," acknowledged Gran Gran as she made her way over to me. "How are you feeling?"

It took me a moment to process the fact that a cartoon character was talking to me. To _me_. How was this even possible?

"Yeah fine, I think I'm okay. Just one thing, what am I doing here?" It was unlikely, but maybe the old lady knew something.

"We found you collapsed at the entrance of our village in the middle of the night and brought you in."

Katara, Sokka, and Aang came over to see what was going on. I couldn't believe it. I was going to get to meet my all-time favorite cartoon characters! I knew I hadn't seen the show for about two years since it had ended, but I'd been such a big fan of it at the time that the show had a permanent engraving in my head. In a game of A:TLA trivia, I would probably win.

"Gran Gran, who is she?" asked a somewhat confused Katara. "I don't recognize her."

"I wouldn't expect you to. We found her outside of the village last night before you three came back."

"She's probably another Fire Nation spy!"

"Sokka, every new person you meet is not going to be a Fire Nation spy!"

"Katara! Sokka! Where are your manners? Introduce our new guest," ordered Gran Gran sternly.

Katara straightened up and nodded obediently. "Right. I'm Katara. My annoyance of a brother here is Sokka. And this is my grandmother."

"Call me Gran Gran."

I listened for the music that followed that statement in the show. Nothing. Darn it. I glanced over at Aang, who I found was staring at me funny, like he was trying to remember something.

"Aren't you guys going to introduce me to Aang?" I asked stupidly.

Everyone's eyes widened at the question, but I couldn't understand why. Then it hit me like a ton of stale bread rolls. I wasn't supposed to know that!

"How did you know that?" Sokka gave me a suspicious glare.

This wasn't going to end nicely unless I thought of something fast.

"Uuhhh…I heard you guys call him that when I was in the tent!" Yeah, that should work.

Sokka crossed his arms, but took the excuse. I was safe, for now.

"Well, now that you know our names, it would be rude for you not to tell us yours," said Gran Gran. She said it casually, but I could tell deep underneath she was just as suspicious of me as Sokka.

"Right, of course. My name is Jessica."

"And where are you from that gave you such a foreign name?"

"Uh…" I couldn't exactly explain that I was from another...what? Dimension, world, universe? I didn't even know how to describe it myself. Instead I bowed my head down dramatically and tried to sound confused. "I-I don't remember."

Seriously? I don't _remember?_ That was the best I could come up with? At this rate they would send me packing before breakfast. But surprisingly enough, Gran Gran just gave an understanding nod, told me I should get some rest, and that maybe it would come back to me later. I couldn't believe my luck.

"Come along now Katara, you have chores."

"Yes Gran Gran."

And just like that, I had survived my first interrogation.

* * *

~~**~~**~~

* * *

The rest of the morning went by pretty uneventfully. I made friends with the little girls of the village. They were so tiny and adorable in their blue parkas that I dubbed them the smurfs and smurfettes. I had noticed weird stares from various mothers in the village at both me and my clothes, but if they had any suspicions they kept them to themselves. I just smiled and tried to look as innocent and nonthreatening as possible. At least the kids seemed to trust me fine. I've heard that they're good judges of character, so maybe that's why the mothers tolerated me.

At some point Aang and I set up some spears for Appa's tail to settle on and made a slide for the kids. I helped to smurfettes up and slid down with them into a premade pile of snow. It was fun, but the snow threatened to soak through my jeans and hoodie, so I just watched after that. It would suck if I suddenly caught a cold here.

"Stop! Stop it right now!" yelled a frantic Sokka as he tried to regain control of his smurf warriors in training. "What's wrong with you guys? We don't have time for fun and games with a war going on."

Sokka took his spear off the makeshift Appa-tail slide, ignoring my protests. Aang jumped down from his bison's head, confusion all over his face. That's right, he didn't know about the war yet. But before he had a chance to ask about the war Katara asked a question of her own.

"Aang, why are you holding two staffs? Wouldn't you only need one at a time?"

"Huh?" Aang looked down at his hands in surprise. Had he not noticed himself picking up two staffs? I didn't remember this from the show.

"I'm not too sure. It's not for me anyway. I can't even remember why I brought along two gliders…" Aang's shifting eyes landed on me. Something in his head seemed to click at that moment as his arm shot out and handed one staff to me. "It's for you."

"Wha-but-I?" I stuttered as I took the unexpected gift. I cleared my throat. "But I can't even airbend. What good is it to me?"

Aang shrugged and started to answer when something behind me caught his eyes. They grew wide as saucers as he shouted, "PENGUIN!"

There was a whoosh of air and he was gone.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "He's kidding right?"

* * *

~~**~~**~~

* * *

I had decided to tag along with Katara on her penguin sledding lesson to Aang. For the record: Best. Decision. _Ever_.

"YEAH!" I shouted at the top of lungs. My penguin sled sailed off the jump and landed beside Aang and Katara. "Best birthday ever!"

"Yeah, this great! I haven't done this since I was a kid," said Katara.

"You still are kid," Aang reminded her.

"I can beat that, I've never done this before at all!"

We all laughed as the cold air nipped at our skin and we didn't care. Our penguins raced down the hill, passing and twisting around each other before entering a large icey tunnel. The sun shined through cracks in the top and reflected off of the many surfaces, making us sail through a whirlwind of color and light. The tunnel ended and our penguins slowed to a stop as the ground flattened below us. We stood up and they hastily waddled off before we could attempt to ride them again.

I followed the two benders as they walked up to the ruins of a giant Fire Navy ship. Oh no, not this part.

"Woah what is that?" asked Aang.

"A Fire Navy ship, and a very bad memory for my people," Katara replied gravely.

Aang started to slowly make his way to the ship. Katara reached out to stop him. "Aang stop! We're not allowed to go near it. The ship could be booby trapped."

"Guys, that ship _is_ booby trapped! Get back here Aang before you set off a set of killer arrows on all of us," I warned.

I did _not_ want to go in there. My clumsiness would probably set off every booby trap on that ship. I probably wouldn't last a minute in there.

"If you want to be a bender you have to let go of fear."

"Yeah, well I can't bend. And I find fear to be very useful in certain situations. Like this one. It stops me from getting myself killed!" I shouted. Aang just ignored me and went in. That thing about fear and bending must have struck a chord in Katara because she started to follow him too.

"Not you too! I thought you were the rational one here Katara! You know this can only end badly," I cautioned to no avail. "Aaand she walks right on in. You know what, fine! But don't come crying to me when you set off a signal flare and let the whole world know we're here!"

I kicked a nearby pile of snow. I'd tried to stop it, but it hadn't made a difference. Now Aang would surely get captured by Zuko when he saw the flare. Waiting for the inevitable to happen, I paced around nervously. I stopped and put my shoulder length brown hair into a ponytail. It usually helped me think more clearly when the hair was out of my face. I started pacing again. What was taking so long?

I was getting ready to run in there and get them myself when I heard a long whistle followed by a short 'pop'. Daring to look up I saw what I had been dreading. Those two nutcakes had set off the flare.

* * *

~~**~~**~~

* * *

Zuko peered intently through his telescope and watched the flare go off from an old Fire Navy ship. Shifting his view he observed a figure holding another figure jump off of the top of the ship and land softly on the snowy ground. Airbending no doubt. There they joined another figure and ran off.

"The last airbender," Zuko muttered to himself. He turned and shouted orders at his crew. "Wake my uncle! Tell him…I've found avatar. Again."

He bent down and looked into the telescope once more. He veered off the view in the direction they were running, then stopped it at the sight of a small water tribe village. Almost pathetic really. It was too easy.

"As well as her hiding place."

* * *

Ok, I promise, they next chapter will be really long! I just wanted to introduce my character first a bit. Feel free to tell me of any grammar mistakes in there by the way, would appreciate it. Constructive criticism is welcome too!

Now click on that button and review for the next chapter!


	4. Banished and Captured

Here's a nice long chapter for my two reviewers. Thanks amythist7 and Trunksymia!

* * *

The dreaded feeling in the pit of my stomach increased as we approached the village. Everyone was waiting for us in a group at the entrance. The little blue munchkins cheered as we approached, shouting Aang's and my name and running up to hug us.

"Smurfs!" I cried out in greeting. "How are you little short guys doing?"

"Silly Jessica!" they giggled at the foreign word. "We're not smurfs!"

They were so cute! Unfortunately Sokka had to butt in on our little reunion. He came forward like the leader he thought he was and pointed accusingly at Aang and me.

"I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us aren't you?"

I put my hands on my hips in protest. "I didn't lead anyone anywhere! I'm the one who told them _not_ to go on the old booby trapped ship!"

"Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger." Gran Gran's voice turned graver with each word, making Katara hang her head in shame.

"Don't blame Katara, it was my idea to go on the ship," corrected Aang.

"And mine not to," I reminded them.

"It was my fault," admitted the airbender.

"Aha! The traitor confesses!" Sokka's finger pointed accusingly at Aang. He couldn't let the Fire Nation spy thing go would he? "Warriors away from the enemy. The foreigners are banished our village."

"What did I do?" Was I even being heard here?

"Sokka you're making a mistake," protested Katara desperately.

"No, I'm keeping my promise to dad. I'm protecting you from threats like them."

"What threat! I couldn't hurt an acorn if I tried!" Would that blubberhead listen to me?

"Aang and Jessica aren't our enemies! Don't you see? They've brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun." You know that's right. Go Katara! Don't let them separate me from my smurfs!

"Fun? We can't fight firebenders with fun." Oh Sokka, why do you have to be such a party pooper? I felt like picking up as much snow as I could carry and throwing it as his head. That would be fun for me.

"You should try it sometime," suggested Aang. How was he so calm about all this? We were getting kicked out of the village! Where would I go? I had no giant bison as an escort. I didn't want to freeze to death out here! Not on my birthday!

"Grandmother, _please_, don't let Sokka do this," Katara begged.

Yes grandmother, stop the giant smurf from giving us the boot!

"Katara you knew going on that ship was wrong. I think it best if the airbender leaves."

Why Gran Gran? Why must you be so cruel? Did I mention it was my freaking birthday?

Katara, angry and in denial, shouted that she was banished too. She grabbed Aang's hand and shouted that they were going to the North Pole to find her a waterbender.

"Katara! Would you really choose him over us? Your own family?"

Stupid Sokka with his rational thinking. I watched Katara looked down sadly at the ground as she realized what she was saying. Aang finally came forth, saying he didn't want to come between her and her family.

Katara was torn. "So you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?"

"Thanks for penguin sledding with me."

"Where will you go?"

"Guess I'll just head home and look for the airbenders," Sorry buddy, but you were in for a disappoint there. "Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that."

I stifled a laugh. Even in a situation where he was being banished Aang still managed to act all selfless and carefree. He really did make a good avatar.

Aang spun around and airbended himself onto Appa, saying his goodbyes. I ran after him.

"Hey Aang, wait! You got room for one more on that bison? I've got nowhere to go and freezing to death is not really a desirable fate for me." Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.

"Wait, we never said you were banished Jessica," corrected Gran Gran. Sokka tried to protest but she gave him a looked the shushed him right up. Wish I had the ability to do that. "You never went on the ship, we have no reason to want you gone."

Well Aang, did I tell you so or did I tell you so? I felt like jumping for joy, but didn't when I realized what my decision was going to be.

"No thanks. If it's all right with Aang I think I'll go with him."

"Jessica, you don't have to go you know," said Katara, not wanting to lose two new friends in one day.

Don't get me wrong, it's not really that I wanted to leave. I just knew that sooner or later Sokka's paranoia would get me banished anyway. Better to go now with Aang where I had a chance of survival than later on my own where my only option was freezing to death.

"Thanks Katara, but it's just too cold. I need to get out of this frozen snowglobe."

I climbed onto the giant flying bison's back, feeling a bit sad at leaving. Looking over at Aang I could see he felt the same way. He gave a yip yip, but Appa was still tired and just walked off instead. I gave a small wave at Katara and watched as she slowly became a small speck in a sea of white.

Once she was completely out of view I switched my focus to Aang, who was sitting on Appa's head with his shoulders slumped. I crawled over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. When he turned to me I offered him a small comforting smile.

"Hey, thanks for letting me come along."

Aang smiled back. "No problem. It's more fun to travel with a friend."

* * *

~~**~~**~~

* * *

A few hours later I was lying lazily on Appa's back, lulled by his constant steps, when it hit me. I popped up.

"Aang turn around! NOW!" I shouted frantically.

"Ok. Why?"

"We need to go back to the village!"

Aang looked confused. "Weren't we just banished from there?"

"Yes, but Katara's in danger," I said, hoping that the mention of Katara would convince him.

"What? How?"

"The Fire Nation is coming to attack them!" I purposely didn't mention that in search of the avatar.

Aang nodded and turned Appa around, urging him to go faster. I decided to initiate the next part of my plan.

"Aang, one more thing."

"What is it?" he asked.

"You can't come."

"What? Why?"

I knew Aang did not want to leave the village to fend for themselves against the Fire Nation, but I had to convince him.

"Because you the av-" I stopped short, remembering that I wasn't supposed to know that yet. Nobody was, except him. "Airbender. You're an airbender. They'd capture you and kill you just like they did all the other airbenders."

Aang tried to object against this plan, but I stood firm. "Look, you just need to hide where no one can see you ok? Only come out if it's absolutely necessary. I'll do whatever I can to get rid of them."

"But you can't even fight. You said so yourself."

"I don't need to fight. I've got something much better," I said, trying to sound confident. "Information."

Well, not really. All I knew was that in the show Zuko still thought he was looking for some hundred year old airbender as the avatar. I just had to convince him that I knew who that was and had seen him leave the village and that Zuko had just missed him. That was my plan. That and a heck of a lot of snowballs.

* * *

~~**~~**~~

* * *

Zuko walked confidently down the ramp off his ship, his soldiers following behind him in step. He gave off an intimidating aura, especially for a teenager. On the way down some pathetic warrior with ridiculous face paint shouted a war cry and came at him. Not even flinching, Prince Zuko merely kicked away first his weapon and then him off into the snow as if it were nothing. It _was_ nothing. That pitiful excuse for a warrior had posed no threat for even a second.

Once he reached the small group of people wrongly called a village his eyes searched the faces. Everyone here was a girl, not counting the worthless warrior and the toddlers. Even so, he was unable to find the face of the girl he was looking for. He knew she was here. Where was she?

"Where are you hiding her?" he demanded.

The tribe only offered him confused looks. Frustrated, he grabbed the only teenage girl there by her hood and pulled her out of the crowd. The children shrieked in fear, some shouting her name.

"She'd be about this age. Master of all elements."

No answers. Just more confused expressions. Zuko pushed her back to her tribe. Her grandmother wrapped her arms around her protectively and glared at him.

This was getting old, and Prince Zuko was quickly losing his patience. He threw a threatening wave of fire above the tribe a warning.

"I know you're hiding her!"

Smack!

Zuko's head literally steamed as the large snowball melted off his face. He wiped the remainder off, a fire growing in his palm. "I'm warning you."

Another smack! This time the snowball hit the forming fireball in his hand, immediately extinguishing it with a small fizzle.

"Leave them alone scarface!" The voice did not come from the crowd. Zuko also noticed that it was a girl's voice. His eyes frantically combed the surrounding area before another snowball could come for him.

There! He saw her face peeking out from behind a small mound of snow and recognized it instantly. She lifted her arm and threw another snowball at him. This time his hand rose and caught it midair, melting it instantly into water.

"You."

* * *

~~**~~**~~

* * *

Oh crap, I'd been spotted. My legs turned to jelly as he melted my most recent snowball in his hand. Did he have to catch it? That was just showing off.

Aang and I had arrived at the village not too long ago. In all the chaos I'd found it pretty easy to sneak in undetected. I had spotted an old snowfort one of the smurfs had probably built and ducked behind it, quickly creating an arsenal of snowballs. I hadn't really heard what was going on, just figured that it was the same as the show so it didn't matter. When Zuko had threatened the crowd with fire was when I'd decided to take action. I didn't want anybody getting hurt, especially my little smurfs.

Zuko pointed his still steaming finger at me. "You."

"You? Sorry I don't know a 'you', try again later!" I ducked behind my tiny fort, wishing those smurfs weren't so short.

I heard a roar of fire and felt cold water soaking into the knees of my jeans. Shrieking, I jumped up. He had melted my fort! "You know I think that's against the rules."

"No more games," Zuko growled. "You're coming with me avatar."

Katara's eyes widened in surprise. "Avatar?"

"No way," whispered Sokka.

Wait. What? Avatar? Oh crap!

I ran off into the deserted village, trying to figure this all out in my head. Zuko thought that _I_ was the avatar? Where did this come from? I haven't even met him yet!

"Men, after her! And make sure you bring the avatar back alive."

Gee, thanks for the consideration. I knew what he really meant_. 'Men, just make sure you don't kill her. Otherwise, go nuts!'_

You know that feeling I mentioned in the pit of my stomach? Well now it's burned a hole into my stomach!

I rushed to find a hiding place from the oncoming soldiers. There was one advantage here that they didn't have, and that was territory. I knew my way around this village. It wasn't much of an advantage though, since this village was smaller than the dead end of my neighborhood back home.

"There she is! Get her!"

Eeek! I ducked behind the nearest ice hut/igloo thingy, ran around it, and ended up behind the soldiers. "Adios suckahs!" I shouted before darting off.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it two steps before running into another soldier. Strike that, it was Prince Zuko. He grabbed my wrist, but before he could do anything else I punched him in the nose. You heard me. I punched Prince Zuko in the nose.

"Aagh! Why you little-" His iron hold flinched for a moment. Grabbing my captured hand with the other I pulled down as hard as I could, releasing myself from his grip. My dad's insistence on self-defense classes were useful after all! Zuko made another grab for me but I stooped and darted into the nearest tent, escaping out the back.

He must have not seen my exit because I heard a satisfying shout of frustration come from his direction.

I somehow managed to keep dodging the soldiers for quite some time. Their heavy armor slowed them down a great deal, and since I was surrounded by snow and ice they didn't have much to burn. In my clothes I was both faster and more agile. At some point I was actually laughing as three of them ran into each other slipping on a patch of ice.

Just as I was about to zip around a corner a child's scared scream cut through my short-lived victory.

"Smurfette!" I shouted desperately when I saw a soldier snatch up one of the little girls by her parka. He laughed as he held a small fire below her terrified face. "Leave her alone you Jack Skellington impersonator!"

Gathering up all the snow I could fit in my hands I tossed the world's largest snowball at the taunting soldier. He fell on his back with a splat. Even though I couldn't see his face through that ridiculous skull mask I could tell he was furious at the embarrassment I had put him through. He made another reach for the little girl.

"Stop! Zuko tell them to stop! I'll come willingly. I'll do whatever you want. Just tell your men to leave them alone! Please!" I begged desperately.

Zuko nodded. "Soldier, drop the child."

I ran up to the evil soldier and let him put her safely in my arms. The poor girl was shaking and fighting back sobs. I gave her a huge hug to calm her down and whispered in her ear. "It's ok. I won't let that big mean man ever come near you again got it? You're safe now."

Her shaking seemed to subside a bit and I gave her back to her mother, who thanked me gratefully.

The moment the child was out of my arms two armored men came up behind me and seized my shoulders, pushing me towards the ship.

_Its ok_, I told myself. _I'm just getting captured by Zuko who thinks I'm the avatar and wants to take me back to his evil daddy whose going to put me in a prison where I can rot away the rest of my days._

Heck no, it is not ok!

I turned my head to have one last glance at the village. Katara looked to be on the verge of crying and even Sokka looked sad. Aang's head popped out from hiding, looking ready to interfere. I shook my head frantically at him, he could not get captured. He was avatar. All I had to do was somehow make Zuko realize that I was _not_ the avatar. Surely he would just release me then right?

"Head a course for the Fire Nation," Zuko ordered at the top of the ramp. "I'm going home."

Well, whoop-de-do for you! What about me? I kind of felt like going back home at that moment too.

As the ramp rose up I noticed the tears threatening to poor from Katara's eyes. We'd only known each other for less than a day, and yet she seemed to care so much. Why did she have to be so nice? I did my best to smile at her, show her that it was ok.

But when the ramp finished it's ascend I let my face fall. What had I just gotten myself into?

* * *

I can't wait for the next chapter, this is going to be fun to write!

Grammar corrections are welcome and greatly appreciated! Reviews and constructive criticisms are even better!

Now click on that button and review for the next chapter!

Please?


	5. Escape

Sorry for the weeklong wait. School decided to give me a billion tests before the break. But now I'm free!(if you don't count the infinite amount of homework they gave me...)

Anyway, hopefully this nice long chapter will make you forgive me!

* * *

The soldiers escorted me to the deck of the ship, where Zuko himself was already waiting for me, holding a cloth up to his nose. My hands flew over my mouth to cover up my laughter. I was pleased to see that his nose was swelling up nicely. He immediately scowled me back into silence, quickly pulling the cloth away. But when blood started to trickle down he was forced to put the cloth back. It was really hard for me to keep a straight face at this point.

"Avatar, you are on my ship now," he reminded me, his voice slightly muffled because of his nose. Ok, Zuko was just asking me to laugh at him with that voice. Still, I had more important things to worry about now. Such as this whole 'Jessica's the avatar' crap. Who came up with that?

"Uh Zuko? Prince Zuko I mean. I'm afraid to inform you that I am not in fact the avatar."

Zuko glared down at me. Well, not that far down, we were actually about the same height. "You have already been captured avatar. Denying it will not help you."

"No seriously, I'm not avatar. My name is Jessica, _jess-ih-kah_. I can't even airbend the hair out of my face."

I attempted to demonstrate my lack of bending abilities by blowing on some hair that had come out from my ponytail during the incident at the Water Tribe. It went up about two inches before falling back in its exact same position. "See what I mean?"

Zuko ignored me, refusing to believe the obvious. What had this guy so convinced I was the stinkin' avatar? I think his ponytail might have been a bit too tight(or his heart three sizes too small).

The staff Aang had given me was suddenly snatched out of my hands.

"Hey! That was a gift!" I reached to grab it back, but a soldier's hand popped out and seized my wrist. I pulled it out of his grip and let my hand drop back down to my side, only to have both my hands taken and tied together behind my back. I glowered as Zuko examined the airbending contraption.

"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father," he said, dubbing the staff as now his. "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks."

"Actually I would know of fathahs, cause I wasn't raised by monks cause I'm not an airbender cause I'm not the avatar!" I spit out all in one breath. I panted a bit before continuing. "And speaking of fathers, yours is a jerk! I mean he gives you a big honking scar right on your face and then banishes you just because you offered your opinion in a war meeting? What kind of daddy does that?"

Zuko's eyebrows knitted together, his mouth twisting into a frown. "How do you know all this?"

Whoopsies. I wasn't supposed to know that was I? Not even the avatar was supposed to know something like that.

Oh well, too late to turn back now.

"Seriously, why are you going through all this trouble for him? He banished you. You're free! Going to Fiji or Pizza Hut and get those early wrinkles out of your face."

Zuko's face was suddenly only inches from mine, his amber eyes glaring down into my blue-green ones.

"You know you face is even scarier from this distance," I pointed out.

"I'm only going to ask you once more. How do you know all this?"

Well, this is one fine little sandwich you've squished yourself into Jessica. "Didn't you hear? Apparently I'm the avatar. I know all! Comes with the title."

The banished prince backed off. I noticed his knuckles were turning white clutching that staff, his anger obviously boiling up inside. I wonder if I could get his face to turn red. Now that would be a sight to see.

"I liked it better when you were unconscious," Zuko stated.

"And I'd like it better if you cut off that stupid ponytail and grew some hair on that shiny dome you call a head, but we can't all get what we want now can we?"

Iroh was forced to grabbed Zuko's arm to stop him from attacking me. His face was actually turning a light shade of pink. It matched his red swelling nose quite nicely.

"Guards, I believe now would be a good time to take the avatar to the prison hold," suggested Iroh.

A hard shove pushed me towards the steps that went down to the prison hold. I looked behind me one last time to see Zuko ask Iroh to take my staff to his quarters. Then Iroh asked some random guard to do it. The last thing I saw was Zuko walking away before I was completely below deck.

Here is when I started to panic. How was I supposed to escape? In this episode Aang had just done some awesome airbending and blown all the guards out of the way. I couldn't do that!

I quickly realized that the only thing I had here was brains. My physical strength was fine for a girl my age, I worked out and rode my bike a lot, but it was no match for anybody on this show. My only hope was to think of a plan and hopefully outsmart these guards.

I didn't get much time to think. We were already at my cell door, one of the guards taking out the keys to unlock it. _This is my last chance_, I thought as they roughly pushed me in. _Before they lock that door and leave for good._

I screamed bloody murder. The two guards immediately opened the cell door and came back in.

"What is it?" they asked.

"A spider! There's a huge spider over there in the corner! Kill it!"

If I could have seen the guards' faces right now I'm sure they would have looked really annoyed.

"Kill it yourself girl." They started to turn around and leave.

"I can't! I've seen this spider before. It's really poisonous, it's what killed my cousin Lenny. What do you think the Prince would say if you two had let me die on your watch because you were too afraid to kill a measly spider?"

The two guards exchanged quick looks before finally going over to the corner I was pointing at. After hearing my remark of it's deadly poison they were cautious about getting too close. Once a couple feet away they just stood there, each one trying to convince the other to go and kill it.

"You kill it, you're faster."

"No way, you're a lower rank than me. I order you to kill it."

I snuck up behind them, silently snatching the keys off the taller one's belt. It wasn't until I had left the cell and slammed the door shut that they noticed anything. Both guards instantly dashed to the door, pounding on it with their fists and shouting at me to open up. I just clicked the lock shut, dangled the ring of keys in their faces through the window, and ran off as fast as my legs could carry me.

* * *

I needed that staff. It was all I had in this crazy world that belonged to me. I had no way of getting off of this ship. Jumping overboard was out of the question, unless I wanted to get hypothermia and freeze to death. With no idea what to do in this sort of situation the only thing that was going through my head at this moment was to get that staff. Maybe I'd find out I was an airbender, master airbending in the next twenty seconds, and fly myself off this ship.

Ok, all this running must be making me a bit lightheaded. I was going crazy here!

Luck had been on my side so far, allowing me not to run into any guards as I madly dashed through all the identical hallways, opening every door I could find in hopes that one would magically lead me to my escape off this darned metal ship! But with all the doors I had opened, not one of them had-

"My staff!" I ran in, ignoring every cell in my body that told me not to enter that room.

As soon as I had my hands on the staff I heard the large metal door shut behind me.

"Oh fudge."

Now I remembered…this was the part where Aang got trapped in the same room as Zuko and he had to fight his way out using his master airbending skills. I not a master of anything! Help!

"Looks like I underestimated you," said Zuko as he glared at me from the closed door.

"Actually you just overestimated your guards. Those guys are easier to get past than a sack of potatoes."

The banished prince suddenly went into his firebending stance. I ducked as a large fireball flew over my head.

"Wait Zuko! Can't we just talk over a calming cup of jasmine tea?"

Another fireball, larger this time and barely singing off the edge of my ponytail. I'm guessing he wasn't real fond of tea.

"Look, I've already said this. I'm not the avatar! I couldn't fight you off right now if I tried! Do you really want to hit a defenseless girl? Aren't you princes all about honor and all that?" I panted in the corner.

Zuko's only response was two fireballs. I quickly spun to the side to avoid them.

I had to think of something. I wasn't Aang; I couldn't airbend him against a wall or evade him like Aang did. A couple of self defense classes from back in seventh grade was all I had. And frankly, I couldn't remember any of it!

I saw Zuko get ready to firebend again and knew I had to stop him. So I did the dumbest thing I could have done in this situation.

I blindly ran at him.

Let me tell you, it did not go well. Don't try it. Just because it works for Naruto and Inuyasha, doesn't mean it works in real life.

In short, I ducked my head and ran at him, hoping to head-butt him in the stomach or something and knock him to the floor. I felt something hot cut across my right arm and when I got to him he merely kicked me in the stomach. My back hit the wall full force and I fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

At first, everything started to go blurry, my whole body aching from the impact. The edges of my vision were already becoming black. Then the pain of a thousand daggers erupted in my arm and I screamed at the top of my lungs. Tears formed in my eyes. I'd never been in so much pain.

I clutched my right arm and looked down to see that part of the sleeve was burned off, now revealing a large burn mark that ran down it. It felt like it was still on fire.

I let the tears spill from my eyes as reality hit me. This was real. This was all very real. I could get hurt. I could even die. This wasn't a dream and it wasn't going to go away when things started getting tough.

Footsteps. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard footsteps. Still on my knees, bent forward, I lifted my head just enough to spot the armored feet walking towards me. I was done for. Once he got to me any chance of escape would sink like sand through my fingers.

He stopped before me for a brief moment, looking down at me. I shot my legs out and kicked him to the floor. Standing up shakily I went for the door, but his hand grabbed my ankle and I fell, my body aching at the second hard metal impact in less than a minute.

"You're not going anywhere avatar," his said through gritted teeth.

"I told you," I grunted, ignoring the stabbing pain from my burn. "I'm not the avatar!"

I jerked my free foot back as hard as possible and kicked him square in the face. He let go immediately, groaning and reaching for his nose once more as I stumbled out the door.

* * *

I was back on the deck of the ship, staff in hand. Now what? My whole body throbbed from being thrown against metal walls and my arm hurt like it had been attacked by a hornet's nest.

"Jessica!"

I spun around and searched the skies. There! It was them! Katara, Sokka, and Aang. They had actually come for me! I couldn't believe it, I felt so relieved.

"Guys, I'm down here!" I shouted frantically, jumping up and down and waving my uninjured arm in the air. "Over here! Quick before the crazy ponytailed prince finds me again!"

A hand suddenly grabbed me and thrust me against the wall, pinning me down. It was Prince Zuko, how had he caught up so fast?

"You were saying?" he asked.

"You know you're making it really hard for me to see any good in you right now. How do you become Aang's ally in season 3 again?"

The prince raised an eyebrow but otherwise ignored my insane babbling. He smirked and held up his other hand, letting me see the fire he was creating in it. I remember him lunging for me with it, but after that everything was white.

* * *

I opened my eyes as the white faded away to find myself still on the ship. My knees buckled and I collapsed to the ground, completely drained of energy. What just happened?

"Jessica! Jessica, are you okay?"

Katara and Sokka jumped off Appa and ran over to me, immediately helping me up.

"You should have seen yourself!" cried Sokka excitedly. "It was amazing! At first you were like _whoosh!_ Then you were all _splash_ and _wham_! Just look at what you did to that firebender guy!"

My head turned over to the form on the wall not ten feet away. I saw Zuko growl at me, his entire body, except for his head, frozen against the metal wall. A snicker escaped my lips, only making his glare more menacing. I stuck my tongue out at him. _Serves him right_, I thought as the burning pain in my arm started to return.

I looked all around me. "Woah! What happened here?"

All over the deck of the ship were guards frozen in place, be it standing or even lying on the floor. One poor guy was standing frozen on one foot with both hands in the air.

"You don't remember?" Katara asked, looking at me worriedly.

"You mean I did this?" Oh lord. Oh dear lordy lord. "Were my eyes glowing by any chance?"

"Yeah, they were," confirmed Sokka. "It was weird."

Heck no! This could not be happening! Were they telling me I had just gone into the avatar state? How was this even possible? That's right. It wasn't!

I took a step towards Appa, eager to get off this ship first and have a mental break down later. But my legs felt like linguini and my arm like it was on fire at this very moment. Add that to being slammed against metal walls, lots of running, and no food/water/sleep in the last 6 hours and it equaled me falling right back down. I suddenly realized how exhausted I really was.

"Jessica are you ok? Can you walk?" Katara rushed up and bent down before me.

I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere with this arm, my head was spinning just thinking about the pain I was in. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. This wasn't supposed to happen for at least another ten episodes, but maybe I could move it along a bit.

"Katara…I need you to do exactly as I say….don't question me okay?" My teeth were gritted as every cell in my body begged me to either cry or scream.

Katara nodded, ready to listen.

"Okay, good…now bend some water around your hands."

"Like this?"

"Yes…that's perfect," I took off my jacket, biting my lip when it brushed over the burn, and held out my right arm to her. "Now heal me."

Katara nearly dropped her bended water. "What?"

"You can heal Katara. It's a gift many great waterbenders have. I know it's a little bit early for you to discover this gift…but I could _really_ use it right now."

"B-but…I don't even know what to do," she protested.

"Just put your hand with the water on the burn…take deep breaths…and concentrate only on healing the burn. When your hands start to glow, you've got it." I kept pausing while the waves of pain crashed into my arm.

"I really don't think I can-"

"Katara…you can do this."

"But-"

"Dammit Katara! Just do it!" I know I probably just sounded like a jerk, but my head was just a roaring red hurricane at that moment.

Struggling to keep the water bending Katara placed her hand over my red upper arm and did what I told her. Her eyes closed and she breathed slowly, focusing only on the water and my arm.

A few seconds passed and I started to think that maybe it was too soon for her to use this ability yet, but just as I was about to let her stop I felt a cool rush of relief wash over me. The pain subsided greatly and I glanced down to see her hand glowing white, along with my burn.

"Katara, that was just amazing. Thank you so much!" I glomped her gratefully.

"Guys, don't get me wrong. This healing magic ability is great and all, but in case you've forgotten, we're still on the Fire Navy ship!" reminded Sokka.

Right. And as I looked around I noticed that Zuko had taken this time to slowly melt the ice pinning him down.

"Guys, this is the part where we get the heck outta here!" I shouted.

I jumped up, grabbed my staff, and ran for Appa. The two water tribe siblings agreed completely and quickly joined me. Aang did a quick yip yip and we were off.

Safe in the air I checked out my arm. The pain was mostly gone, just a dulling burning sensation, like when you burn your finger touching a hot pan right out of the oven. Unfortunately, there was now a large red mark running down the side of my upper right arm. I pulled my jacket back on, ignoring the cold breeze that now went through the gaping hole in my sleeve.

I gratefully accepted a furry parka from Katara two minutes later. Exhaustion washing over me, I lay down against the rolled up sleeping bags and took a much needed nap. Until I woke up again, I actually forgot about the fact that I might just be the avatar.

* * *

Finally, I got through the first two episodes! Now I can move on. Review and subscribe if you want to read Jessica's sure-to-come mental breakdown on being the avatar!

Plz feel free to point out any grammar mistakes!


	6. I'm Psychic!

Hope you all had an awesome holiday, here is a late Christmas gift!

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us you were the avatar?"

"Like heck I knew I was the avatar! I couldn't even bend anything before two days ago! Now I'm destined to save the world using all four elements? I don't think so!" Jessica shouted, walking in circles on Appa's saddle.

She turned around, tripped over Sokka's outstretched leg, and face planted into a sleeping bag. Sokka pulled his leg back guiltily and asked if she was alright. The only response was her screaming at the top of her lungs into the cushy sound-absorbing mass.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Her head popped back up. "I can't do this! Find somebody else to be your avatar and take me home!"

"I don't really think it works that way," said Katara.

_Well, trust me, this isn't the way it's supposed to work either, _Jessica thought.

Katara felt bad for Jessica, who obviously wasn't happy with her predicament. Although she couldn't do anything about her being the avatar, she realized she could do whatever it took to help her out.

"Why don't we go to the North Pole?" she suggested. "You and I could learn waterbending together."

Jessica shrugged, already expecting this. "Yeah, alright."

Aang came over from Appa's head with a map. "Ok guys, me and Appa would be honored to take the avatar to the North Pole. But there are some stops we'll have to make along the way…"

* * *

~~**~~**~~

* * *

Then sun slowly rose in the horizon as Aang excitedly tightened Appa's reigns. Katara sat packing in the saddle while Sokka and Jessica were still fast asleep in the sleeping bags on the ground. A little smoke was still rising from the warm ashes of last night's fire.

"Wait till you see it Katara, the air temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world."

"Aang I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home," Katara reminded him. She was worried that he would be disappointed.

Aang turned to her smiling. "That's why I'm so excited!"

Katara sighed. "It's just that a lot can change in all that time."

"I know, but I need to see it for myself."

Aang finished and jumped off Appa, his airbending landing him softly onto the ground. He walked over to the two late sleepers, one of which(Sokka), was snoring loudly. "Wake up guys! Air temple here we come!"

"Sleep now temple later," Sokka groaned and rolled over in protest.

Aang walked over to Jessica and tried again. "Wake up Jessica! Don't you want to see the air temple?"

Jessica shifted, groaned, moaned, and squeezed her eyes tightly shut to block out all possible sunlight.

"Look, I don't know what twisted evil force has you guys wake up at dawn in this world, but where I'm from, it's customary to sleep in until...well...whenever I feel like it." Jessica offered another groan before pulling the sleeping bag over her head so that nothing could be seen of her. And she could not see the bright world outside.

"Come on Jessica!"

"No!" she protested, her voice muffled through the sleeping bag.

Aang's face fell, then turned into mischievous grin as he spotted a stick next to him on the ground. He grabbed the twig and traced it up and down Jessica's sleeping bag.

"Jessica wake up!" he cried. "There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!"

A hand reached out and snatched the branch right out of Aang's hand. It disappeared into the sleeping bag where Aang heard a _snap_ and saw the bag spit out two sticks distinctly smaller than the first. The hand came back and pointed a warning finger at Aang.

"Poke anything else at me when I'm trying to sleep and next time the stick won't be the only thing I snap in two." The hand then retreated and the sleeping bag rolled away a few feet to make its point.

* * *

~~**~~**~~

* * *

The southern air temple. I was actually here. In real life! It looked so much smaller on tv.

We had flown on Appa to the beginning of a mountain path and were now walking up to the temple. Sokka and I were trailing behind as Aang eagerly rushed forward. Sokka was clutching his stomach and looking miserable while I rubbed my eyes and glared daggers at anyone who dared to look my way. For the record, I was not a morning person.

"So where do I get something to eat?" Sokka asked.

"And when do I get to take a nap?" I was tired after my adventure on Zuko's ship yesterday, my body still a bit sore from being thrown around and kicked in the stomach. At least the burn on my arm didn't hurt anymore.

"You two are lucky enough to be some of the first outsiders to _ever_ visit an airbender temple, and all you guys can think about is food and sleep?" Katara gave us a disapproving look.

"In case you didn't notice, I am _not_ a morning person. I value sleep over everything—except chocolate—and do _not_ enjoy being deprived of it! My parents gave up long ago on the whole 'waking me up early' thing," I grumbled a few more inaudible words and trudged on ahead of the two siblings to where Aang was standing on the edge of the path. Below lay a terrain of flat-topped wooden poles with a goal at each end.

"So Aang, is that where you and your friends played airball?"

"Yeah! And over there is where bison would sleep and—wait …I thought you'd never been here before," Aang gave me a confused look.

Oh crap, me and my big mouth. "I haven't. Believe me, it would be hard to forget a place like this."

"Then how did you know about the airball?"

"Uh…lucky guess? It looks like a place where you would play a sport, and you're an airbender, so I just put two and two together."

Aang stared at me a bit longer. "Oh, that makes sense I guess." He looked around again and sighed.

Katara came up behind us. "What's wrong?"

"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison," Aang's smile fell. "Now there's just a bunch of weeds. I can't believe how much things have changed."

I gave Katara and Sokka a look, they nodded. Sokka came forward.

"So, this airball game…how do you play?"

* * *

~~**~~**~~

* * *

After Sokka got his butt kicked at a friendly game of airball and Katara covered up the Fire Nation helmet with snow we found ourselves walking up the rounded steps to a stone courtyard. Katara and Sokka were standing over to the side. Sokka looked over his shoulder to make sure Aang was out of earshot.

"Katara, firebenders were here," he said. "You can't pretend that they weren't."

"I can for Aang's sake. If he finds out that the Fire Nation invaded his home, he'll be devastated."

Eager to change the topic to happier matters I went back over to Aang, who was standing before a statue of a monk sitting crosslegged. It took me a second, but I quickly recognized him.

"Hey Aang! Isn't this Monk Gyatso? He's like your version of a dad or something right?"

"Yeah, he's one of the greatest airbenders in the world. He taught me everything I know," Aang bowed before his teacher, then popped straight back up and pointed an accusing finger at me. "You did it again!"

"What?" I knew what was coming here.

"Stole the words right out of my mouth. Knew what I was thinking! It happened in the South Pole too, where you knew exactly what booby trap Katara and I would set off on the ship. And then you knew about the Fire Nation coming to Katara's village. How do you know all these things?"

How was I supposed to answer that? I couldn't exactly explain the fact that I was from another world. How could I be the avatar and be from another world at the same time? That didn't make any sense! My whole life right now wasn't making any sense! Next thing you knew pop tarts would come too life and start telling Christmas stories to kittens. Hey, it could happen.

I had no choice. I had to make up an excuse that sounded legitimate and not completely insane.

"I'm psychic!"

I was ready to slap myself in the forehead. Psychic? Really? Why didn't I just put on a rabbit suit and tell them I was the Easter Bunny?

Sokka, the ever so reasonable one, was the first to completely reject my ridiculous claim. "You're not psychic. Nobody's psychic. It's just not scientifically possible."

"You're not scientifically possible!"

"Huh?"

Ok, maybe that wasn't the best comeback, but when you thought about it, technically it was true that Sokka's, and this world's, existence wasn't scientifically possible. They were all a tv show!

But, I had chosen this excuse and now I had to stick to it.

"It is possible! How else would I know all that stuff Aang talked about?"

Sokka refused to accept it. "You could have figured it out or had a source. There's no real way to prove that you're psychic."

It's a good thing I'd seen every episode of this show. "Oh yeah? Then how did I know that Katara could heal? How do I know that Aang used to airbend gooey filled cakes off the balcony with Monk Gyatso and onto the other cranky monks' heads? And how do I know that your dad left with the other men of your tribe to go fight the Fire Nation, and your dad wouldn't let you go because he said you had to be the man of the tribe? That you once got two fishhooks stuck in your thumb?"

"Sokka got two fishhooks stuck in his thumb?" interrupted Aang.

"He tried to get the first fishhook out using another fishhook," I clarified. "You can see where that got him."

Sokka's jaw dropped open. Aang confirmed that I was right about the gooey cake tossing.

"So are you psychic because of the infinite wisdom that comes with being the avatar?" Katara asked.

"Sure let's go with that." It sounded like as good an excuse as any.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks all over again. The whole me being the avatar thing. Having seen the show, I knew what that title had in store for me. I suddenly felt like the weight of the world had fallen on my shoulders. I'd say it had to be a mistake, but I'd gone into the freaking _avatar state_. You didn't get any proof more concrete than that.

"Hey Jessica, there's a place I want to show you!" said Aang excitedly. He ran up the steps behind Gyatso to a circular opening. I knew where it led.

"The air temple sanctuary?"

"How did you—?" Aang shook his head as he remembered my 'psychic' abilities. "Never mind. You're right of course. The monks always talked about how the avatar would go there for guidance from past avatars."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" I tried to sound excited, even though I knew nobody would be in the sanctuary. Aang had found no guidance when he was the avatar(this logic was sounding less logical every time), so why would I?

Wait a minute; I knew more about Roku than Aang did. Maybe I could somehow contact his spirit! If anyone knew anything about this crazy avatar mixup it had to be Avatar Roku. He had to have the answers. He just had too.

At the end of the tunnel was the door to the sanctuary. An old tree had grown and twisted itself, framing the outside of the door. The door itself was made of wood with a series of gold pipes in the center that formed a circle. Three blue circles sat in a triangle surrounded by the pipes.

"Maybe they have food!" cried out Sokka excitedly, making a dash for the door. Unable to open it, he ended up running into it face first. After a few failed attempts to open it he turned to Aang. "I don't suppose you have a key?"

"The key is _airbending_ smart one," I explained.

Aang, used to my clairvoyance now, nodded and thrust both hands forwards, shooting air into the pipes. The three blue circles flipped over to their purple side and whistled. Then a pipe turned, allowing the door to open and reveal the dark interior.

"Echo!" I shouted into the darkness, laughing as I received an '_echo echo echo'_ in reply. "Sokka's an idiot!"

'_Sokka's an idiot…Sokka's an idiot… Sokka's an idiot…_'

"Hey!"

"Oh lighten up."

We stepped into the room, and as our eyes adjusted to the gloom I found myself breath taken by the infinite amount of statues that spiraled around the room and along the walls so far up that they eventually just melted into the darkness. It was so massive and open. No wonder my echoes went on forever.

"Statues?" Sokka groaned disappointedly. "That's it? Where's the meat!"

I shook my head.

Katara walked up to one and stared up into it's face curiously. "Who are all these people?"

Aang stared at one with arrow tattoos. "I don't know, but look, this one's an airbender!"

"Isn't it obvious guys? These are all avatars from the past," I crossed my arms proudly over my chest. "My past lives if you will."

Sokka snickered. "Past lives? You actually believe in that stuff?"

"It's true," said Katara. "When an avatar dies, he is reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle."

"So what nation am I?" I asked, tilting my head sideways at an avatar who I swear had a nose ring.

Katara shrugged. "Shouldn't you know that?"

"Yeah, well, it's complicated." There were no nations where I was from! Just America and everything else. And high school. Oh crap I had a Spanish test on Tuesday! What day was it? Had Tuesday already passed? Did time pass differently here than back home?

Suddenly a loud noise came from the tunnel outside the door. We all spun around. I hid behind Aang for protection. Hey, he was the strongest out of everyone here.

A shadow formed on the ground and grew larger as it's creator approached. It had two large things on its head and—wait a minute.

"Fire bender," Sokka warned from behind a statue. "Nobody make a sound."

"Guys, I think we'll be fine. Trust me when I say that what's coming won't hurt us."

"Sssshhhhhh!"

"Ssshhh! Yourself. You guys are cowering behind statues over a harmless lemur," I stood up and walked out of hiding towards the oncoming figure.

"Wait Jessica! You don't know that!" Katara held out her hand to stop me.

"Oh it's so cute!" I cooed. "Can we keep him?"

Momo was even cuter in person. He titled his head and gave me a questioning look, his eyes wide and curious.

"Lemur!" cried Aang excitedly.

"Dinner!" Sokka drooled.

"Don't listen to him, you're going to be my new pet."

The two jumped out and dove for the poor lemur. Momo panicked, screeched, and darted back out into tunnel. Two chased after him, one boy drooling and calling him meat, while the other went on about Momo being his new pet. Katara and I were left alone in the large dark room.

I glanced over at Roku's statue. If anyone in this world knew what was going on, it would be him.

"Hey Katara, I think you should follow them. Aang's going to need you when he finds the remains of the monks with the Fire Nation armor."

Katara looked surprised at first, but then nodded, knowing better than to question it. As soon as she was gone I turned and walked to the center of the room where Avatar Roku's statue stood. I needed some answers.

"Okay, you've got some explaining to do here buddy," I pointed my finger menacingly at him. "Why is all this happening to me? Why in the world am _I_ the avatar? In case you didn't get the memo, that's supposed to be Aang!"

Roku's statue stared blankly down at me.

"Don't give me the silent treatment. I know you can talk to me! You're a spirit now right? Come out and talk to me! Explain to me why the heck I've been chosen to master the four elements and save the flippin' world! "

Nothing. No spirit Avatar Roku appeared to offer me his infinite wisdom. I was starting to get angry.

"I've got a Spanish test on Tuesday you know! I can't be here. I need to get home! This little adventure was fine while it lasted; now I'm ready to go back to my world. I've learned whatever lesson it is I'm supposed to learn. I appreciate my life, I love my parents, blah blah blah. Can I go home now?"

Roku's statue's eyes flashed for a quick second and I thought maybe I'd gotten through to him. But it had just been a trick of the light. My rage finally boiled over.

"I don't want to do this! I don't want to be the avatar! Just send me back home so I can take my darned Spanish test!" I shouted angrily and kicked the statue, not caring about respect or defacing public property. All it resulted in was my toe in pain. I hopped up and down on one foot, clutching the other.

"I _can't_ do this you know! I don't know how you expect me to! I don't know a single element! I can't learn four by that stupid fire comet in season 3!" My shouting grew louder and angrier. The statue before me started to blur as angry tears formed in my eyes. "IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! I CAN'T SAVE THE WORLD! I CAN'T EVEN SAVE _MYSELF_!"

"Jessica? Jessica are you still in there? We're ready to go!" Katara's voice echoed through the tunnel over to me.

I immediately grew silent. I quickly wiped the few tears from my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself before running out to face them. _At least I don't have to go through this alone_, I realized as they came into view. I had three awesome friends to help me out along the way.

At the tunnel opening I found a sad looking Aang, who looked like he'd just cried a lot more than me but had been comforted out of it, with Katara and Sokka.

"What were you doing in there?" Sokka asked, looking pleased as he ate the food the lemur had brought him.

"Just thinking."

The lemur hopped onto Aang's shoulder. I smiled as the adorable creature offered me a leeche nut.

"So did you name him Momo yet?"

"That was the exact name I was thinking of," Aang didn't bother asking how I knew. "You like it?"

"I couldn't think of anything that could fit this little guy better."

We went back to Appa, ready to move on and continue our journey. Aang offered one last look at his old home, full of longing and sorrow.

"You okay Aang?" asked Katara.

Aang turned around. "Yeah, I'm fine now. I think I know why I stayed in that iceberg for a hundred years. I was meant to survive," he faced me. "To teach you Jessica."

"Me?"

"Yes, I lived so that I would be able to teach the avatar airbending."

I smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."

* * *

Not much action here, I know. But she meets Suki next episode, and Zuko again. So I promise that one will be exciting!

The more reviews I get the sooner the next chapter comes! So review plz!(constructive criticism is welcome too)


	7. Do I LOOK like a Fire Nation Spy?

Hey guys...hehe...made you all wait pretty long huh? Don't hate me! It's my senior year and I have so much work and applications and whatnot I'm going crazy here! But I finally had some freetime and was able to get this out. Enjoy!

And and big huge thank you to all my reviewers out there! You are the ones who make me continue this fanfic, thank you so much! Virtual cookies for all!

* * *

I was having the most pleasant dream about an all you can eat dessert buffet while sitting at the same table as Johnny Depp when I was woken up by a hard boot to the head.

"OW!"

My eyes whipped open and I turned over to see Sokka's foot less than an inch from my head. I gave a grumpy groan and roughly pushed it away, only to have it kick me right back in the face.

"You are so dead in the morning," I muttered as I sat up and gingerly rubbed my sore cheek. Waking him up and kicking his butt now would only wake the others, and then no one would get any sleep.

_Besides_, I realized, _now I finally have a moment to myself._

Relishing this small window of alone time I crawled over to the edge of the saddle and lay my head on my arms, staring out dreamily at the dark open sea.

There was a beautiful full moon overhead which reflected into a million shining shards in the water below. A constant cool breeze gently caressed my face. I smiled contently and closed my eyes. This was the first moment I'd had since I'd come here where I was able to relax and be at peace.

Ever since I'd woken up in this world and been declared avatar I'd constantly been on the run and always worrying about my safety. I lightly touched the scar that now covered part of my upper right arm. It felt rough compared to my usually smooth skin. When I went back home, _if_ I went back home, would I keep the scar? Or would it go away? How would I explain it to my parents? Then again, since I've been gone for multiple days now I'm guessing any scars would be the least of their worries.

Okay, all these sad thoughts were starting to depress me a bit here. So instead I decided to focus on what I did have. I reached into my jacket pockets and jean pockets to see what have transferred over from my world with me. Hopefully a cell phone so I could call home. Who knows? Maybe they got service here.

Yeah…right…

Well there was no cell phone, I didn't really expect there to be, otherwise I would have noticed something that big in my pockets ages ago.

Here's my inventory which I had strewn out next to me in the saddle: a couple pieces of gum, a black sharpie, a folded up piece of paper, a smiley face sticker, a couple unicorn/rainbow tattoos(won it in class, teacher needs to get more age appropriate gifts), and a quarter. Did the people here take quarters?

Wow, the things you stuff in your pockets and just forget about. I wondered how old the gum was.

Besides what was in my pockets I had my clothes, which consisted of jeans, black Nikes(with glow in the dark green check marks!), a black tank top, and a sweater with black and purple stripes. The sweater had a hole in the right sleeve where Zuko had attempted to barbecue me. He was getting his butt kicked all the way to Timbuktu once I learned how to bend something.

Oh wait, that wasn't all I had. My hand reached up to grab my necklaces. At the moment I had two. One was a silver pendant on a black string with the Japanese symbol for love in silver with a red background(I'd gotten it during my Gaara phase). The other was a silver tag on a chain my best friend had given me before I'd moved away.

I dug out a pair of sleek black sunglasses from my jacket pocket. These would definitely come in handy in the future.

Sokka suddenly popped up. "Hogmonkey stole my jerky!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, causing me to practically fall off Appa in shock.

I hurriedly stuffed everything back in my pockets and crawled over to Sokka to reassure him of the lack of hogmonkeys up here on our flying bison. Sokka waved his arms around in panic, slapping me in the process, and dropped back down to sleep as quickly as he'd come up.

Feeling the sting of the red handmark I knew now decorated my cheek, my hand slowly clenched into a fist and rose up in the air. Don't do it Jessica. Don't do it. He was only sleeping. It's not his fault. It's not worth waking up Katara and Aang over this.

While I was busy talking myself out of pummeling the life out of Sokka, one of my hands reached into my jacket pocket and felt the black sharpie and I had just jammed in. I pulled it out slowly; the gears in my head spun and my mouth twisted into a mischievous smirk.

_Let's see what you think about mustaches,_ I thought as I uncapped the Sharpie.

* * *

"We just made a pit stop yesterday," said Sokka. "Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?"

Aang protested, insisting that Appa was tired. He ripped off his shirt and sprinted for the water.

"COLD!" he shouted, jumping ten feet into the air before swimming towards the koi fish.

Sokka turned towards Appa and spotted an arm hanging over the side.

"Hey Jessica, aren't going to come down and watch Aang waste our time?"

The hand retreated and a head popped up from the saddle. Her brown hair stuck out in all directions and dark bags had formed under her eyes.

"Remember what I said about me and sleep? Well somebody with a jerky limb obsession decided to wake me up in the middle of the night and give me this!" She pointed at her cheek, which was still a light shade of red from the night before.

"I don't remember doing that!" he protested.

Half-awake Jessica struggled to glare at Sokka. When her blurry vision finally cleared Jessica spotted Sokka's face. Her eyes widened and she burst out laughing.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "You okay up there Jessica?"

Jessica's hand slapped over her mouth, struggling to hold in the laughter. She was so dead if Sokka found out.

"Yes," she managed to say squeakily. "I'm fine. I think I'll just sleep a bit longer."

Jessica fell back down into the saddle out of Sokka's view, unable to hold back her laughter.

"Sometimes I worry about the fate of our world and the hands it's in," muttered Sokka to himself.

"Aang's in trouble!"

Sokka spun around to see the all giant koi fish quickly disappear into the water until the one Aang was surfing on was the only fish left.

"Aang! Get out there now!"

Sokka and Katara jumped up and down, waving their arms frantically in the air as they shouted desperately at the top of their lungs for him to come out. Aang wasn't able to hear them and just waved back cheerfully when his koi fish was pulled out from under him. He resurfaced to find himself under the giant shadow of a huge black fin taller than three Appas. Screaming for his life Aang flew up into the air and wildly ran across the water towards shore, the black fin closing in with every second.

"Come on Aa—OOF!" Sokka had the wind knocked out of him as the bald airbender rammed into his stomach.

"My bad Sokka."

Sokka groaned in pain and he slowly stood up. "As long as _you're_ okay," he reassured Aang sarcastically.

"What _was_ that thing?" asked Katara as she watched the tall fin dip back below the water and out of sight. It was almost as if there wasn't a giant monster living in the lake ready to eat people.

"I don't know, but let's do that again!" Aang cried while he pulled his shirt back on.

"No! We are leaving this place before you decide to get into any more life-threatening situations that always seem to end with me on the ground in pain," commanded Sokka. "Let's hit the road."

Just as Sokka finished his sentence green clad warriors jumped down from the trees and immediately surrounded the gang. Sokka reached for his boomerang, but one came up and grabbed him from behind. Katara's hood was pulled over her face, blocking her view before she was snatched away. They grabbed Aang by the collar and pulled a bag up right under Momo, tying his little hands to his neck. In seconds the four of them found themselves bound and blindfolded on the snowy ground.

"Or we could stay awhile," suggested Sokka.

"Wait, isn't Jessica still free?" whispered Katara.

"Yeah, maybe she can save us with her glowy avatar powers," whispered Aang back hopefully.

A large groan came from behind the snowy trees as the flying bison trudged back from his snack. Jessica sat up groggily from her short nap.

"So did Aang get chased by the Unagi yet?" she asked through a yawn. She rubbed her eyes before looking down to spot her tied up friends and the group of green woman warriors.

"Oh…fudge."

Jessica grabbed her staff and waved it around not so threatenlingly.

"Don't attack Kyoshi warriors! I'm skilled in the art of…" Jessica paused to think about that, then jumped off Appa and made a break for the woods. "Running away!"

"Our hero," praised Sokka.

The warriors ran up behind her, snatched the staff out of her hands, then grabbed her and quickly tossed her tied up on the ground beside her comrades.

"Hey, guys. Hehe…I would have come back for you I swear."

"Yeah, I'm sure you would have Jessica," Sokka commented sarcastically.

* * *

"You four have some explaining to do."

Old guy's voice.

"And if you don't answer all our questions we'll throw you back in the water with the Unagi."

Girl's voice. Sounded familiar. It was probably Suki.

Wait. Did she say Unagi? That's okay Suki, I'm just fine here on land thank you very much.

"Show yourselves cowards!" ordered Sokka, ever trying to be the tough guy.

I elbowed him in the ribs, having had the misfortune of being tied up next to him.

"Shut up Sokka, your tough guy act is fooling no one. Just listen to what the nice Kyoshi warriors have to say and you might not get your butt kicked for the second time today."

"You friend is wise, you should listen to her." I'm guessing that was Suki.

"You hear that Sokka? I'm wise. So shut your trap and do what I say!"

A Kyoshi warrior I didn't recognize finally came up and pulled off my blindfold. Suki had pulled off Sokka's. The pompous hogmonkey was glancing around for the guys he assumed had captured them.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Where are the men who ambushed us?"

"There were no men. We ambushed you," clarified Suki. "Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Wait a second, there's no way a bunch of _girls_ took us down," Sokka snickered.

I proceeded to elbow Sokka in the ribs as hard as possible.

"OW! What was that for?"

"A bunch of _girls_ can't take you down? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean that boys are naturally stronger than girls. We can't help it. Girls are good at things like sewing and cooking, while guys are good at hunting and fighting. Girls can't fight."

"Excuse me? Have you forgotten that _this_ girl is the avatar?"

Sokka smirked. "And _how_ many elements can you bend?"

"Hey mustache boy, shut it or I think the Unagi's going to eat well tonight," warned Suki, grabbing Sokka's shirt.

"Mustache boy?" Sokka attempted to look down at his mouth for a mustache, but failed.

"Yeah Sokka, shut it," I grinned, safe until he looked in a mirror.

The old man in blue pointed at me. He was probably the mayor here or something. Did they have mayors in the avatar world?

"You! Did you say you were the avatar? I will not tolerate lying here."

"But I'm not lying! Trust me, I wish I was."

"You four could easily be Fire Nation spies," he pointed out accusingly.

"Really?" I shouted in disbelief. "Why does everybody accuse me of being a Fire Nation spy? Do I really look like a Fire Nation spy to you? You'd think a spy would be smart enough not to get caught. And look at my friends, one's a waterbender, the other is an airbender, and that last one is just a sexist idiot with a boomerang. What part of this screams 'Fire Nation Spy!' to you? Because I would really love to know!"

"But you can't possibly be the avatar," Suki protested. "The last avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago."

I sighed. "It's a loooooong story. I don't really get it myself."

"Throw the imposter to the Unagi!" ordered the old the man. There was just no reasoning with these people! Did they just throw everything that they didn't understand to the Unagi?

Suki and her warriors whipped out their fans and closed in on us. I had to prove to them we weren't lying, but how could I do that when I couldn't even bend anything to prove I was the avatar?

"Wait! I can't prove myself, but the short bald kid in red and yellow over there is the last airbender! He's my airbending teacher. Why would the last airbender be a spy for the very nation that wiped out his tribe?"

The warriors continued to close in on us. I was not ready to be part of a four course meal for a giant fish!

I elbowed Aang, who was on my left side. Katara was next to him on his right. Not that he was complaining.

"Aang, don't just stand there and let us become fishbait! Do some airbending already!"

Aang didn't need to be told twice. With a blast of air that blew back the hair of all surrounding people the bald kid jumped up high, back flipped over Avatar Kyoshi's statue, and softly landed back on the ground to a crowd of cheering villagers.

"Show off," I muttered.

Aang then took out his marbles and showed off his trick to the villagers, eager for a little attention. Katara had totally ignored him earlier after all.

But after the strange man with the foaming mouth who had somehow obtained an entire fanbase for his few seconds of screen time(and even a shipping, ever heard of Foamtara?) foamed his way to the ground, Katara, Sokka, and I were still tied up to the wooden totem pole that had Kyoshi's statue sitting at the top.

"Uh guys? I know Aang's marble trick is great and all, but the _avatar_ is still tied up over here!" I reminded them.

The old man chief/mayor/whatever instantly bowed in apology. "Forgive us young avatar. Please accept our sincerest apologies and gifts."

Suki and two other girls in green untied the remaining three of us, also bowing in apology. I held my head up high.

"Yeah, well, this avatar has been deeply offended. I am not sure I will be able to forgive you so easily—wait, did you say gifts?"

"Yes, of course."

"Do these gifts include food?"

"An entire arrangement of our finest foods will be prepared and served to you and your friends immediately."

"You're forgiven," I grabbed Katara and Sokka by the wrist and dragged them towards the inn the chief said we could stay at for free. "Come on guys let's go get some grub, I'm starving and the seal jerky ain't cutting it!"

On our way to the inn Katara starting look at Sokka strangely. Uh oh.

"Hey Sokka I've been meaning to ask you," she started.

"Yeah, what is it?"

Oh no, not good. She was going to point out the sharpie drawn mustache I'd given him last night for slapping me in his sleep.

"Are you insecure about you lack of facial hair?"

"Huh?"

My death was coming sooner than I thought. I knew thee well.

"I'm just saying, drawing on a mustache won't make you any manlier. In fact, it only makes you look more ridiculous," said Katara frankly.

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing," Aang agreed, having finally finished showing off his airbending for now and caught up to us.

"What are you talking about? What mustache?" Sokka reached up and felt his face.

He looked around and grabbed a mirror from a poor passerby.

"Hey!"

"Oh hush you'll get it back in a second," said Sokka as he held it up and saw what his sister had been talking about. His face twisted into a look of horror over the black mustache with curly-cues on each end that had somehow appeared on his face.

"My face! My beautiful flawless face! Who could have done such a thing to someone as handsome as me?"

"Hearing that makes me wish I had done it," muttered Katara to no one in particular.

"I heard that!"

I took this moment of temporary distraction to starting slowly stepping away. Unfortunately Sokka noticed my hasty retreat through his bawling and immediately put the pieces together.

"IT WAS YOU!" he shouted accusingly, his finger pointing at me dramatically.

"What was?"

"This was!" Sokka motioned at the curly mustache.

"What's this?"

"The mustache!"

"I see no mustache on your face."

"You don't?"

I tried to keep a straight face but only succeeded in stifling a laugh.

"Hey, you're lying! It was you!"

This time I burst out laughing. How could you blame me? It was impossible to take the guy seriously with that mustache drawn on.

I tore off in the other direction as Sokka chased angrily after me.

* * *

"All-You-Can-Eat-Dessert-Buffet-For-Breakfast!" I cheered the next morning. "My eight favorite words! I've been waiting the past three episodes for this!"

They all looked so good that I had no idea where to start. I decided that the best way to do this would be to begin at one end of the table and work my way over to the other end.

"Mmm! Katara you've gotta try these!" said Aang through a mouthful of ginger cupcake.

Katara, who had been carefully analyzing a honey cake, reached over tentatively. "Well, maybe just a bite."

"Oh stop being such a girl!" I scolded the waterbender as I moved on to the eclairs, my third dessert so far. "We're going all the way to the North Pole and this might be one of the few chances where we get an all-you-can-eat-dessert- buffet-for-breakfast. Actually this will probably be the _only_ chance we get to eat an all-you-can-eat-dessert- buffet-for-breakfast. I doubt the other cities we go to will love us this much. Take my word for it, I'm psychic remember?"

Katara raised an eyebrow, but after taking a bite of the cupcake Aang had offer her she quickly agreed with me and made a grab for two more desserts. I glanced over to find Sokka sitting gloomily in the corner with a raincloud floating above his head. My hand found the nearest sweet roll and threw it at him, hitting him square in the head. He growled and turned to glare at me.

Unphased I called to him. "Hey Mr. Grumpy Gills! I know for a fact you love to eat almost just as much as I do. So stop sulking over the girls that kicked your butt yesterday and come eat before there's nothing left. And I promise you, that will not take me very long."

"Those girls snuck up on me!" Sokka protested.

"Yeah, and _then_ they kicked your butt," Katara smirked.

"Sneak attacks don't count!"

My eyes scanned the pastries and settled on a nutty cinnamon roll.

"Care to put your pastry where your mouth is? I happen to know where these girls who kicked your butt are training," I mumbled through my mouth full of cinnamon roll.

Sokka stood up. "I'm not scared of any girls!" He came over and grabbed three desserts.

"Ok then, let's go pay Suki a visit. My psychic avatar senses are tingling. They're telling me I don't want to miss what happens next."

I took five desserts for the road. Sokka glowered and snatched another three. I snatched four. He grabbed five. This went on until we were both making our way towards the door with half the desserts from the table balanced precariously in our arms.

* * *

Ah yes, Sokka/Jessica banter. Way too much fun to write. Not sure what's more fun, Sokka/Jessica banter or Zuko/Jessica banter. This is based slightly off me because I am obsessed with desserts and would most likely end up doing the same thing as Jessica right here.

Good news for those who review this chapter and tell me what they think. A new chapter! It's practically done and I should post it later this month if people review!


	8. Blue Flamingos and Long Faced Horses

Told you all I wouldn't make you wait as long this time! And thank you for all your amazing reviews, they made me finish up this chapter a lot faster.

* * *

By the time we arrived at the Kyoshi Warrior's training building our armfuls of food had been eaten, dropped, and even given away to passing kids as we competed over who could make the most desserts disappear. When we approached the building I could barely contain my excitement. The Kyoshi warriors were one of the coolest examples of girl power in this show. And what happened next I wouldn't miss for the world…

"Alrighty Sokka, here we are," I pointed it out as I stuffed one last éclair in my mouth. "Go show those girls what a _real_ warrior is like."

I couldn't help but snicker at that last part. Sokka glared at me before puffing up his chest and going inside. First he peeked his head past the door and finally went in, starting off in the worst way possible.

"Sorry girls I didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson. I was just looking for a place to get a workout."

Wow, what a sexist monkey brain. He deserved what was coming next, I thought as I walked in behind him.

"Well you're in the right place," said Suki, kindly ignoring the sexist comment, though I could feel the annoyance deep under her voice.

Then Suki noticed my presence. The entire group of Kyoshi warriors immediately bowed before me. It took me a moment to remember why. Oh yeah, I was the avatar. Bow before me my minions!

Ok, so I didn't go and say that out loud. But I bet it would have worked!

Instead I just waved my hands, embarrassed. "You don't have to bow or anything. In fact, I'm just here to see the show."

I smirked at Sokka before stepping a few feet away. The water tribe warrior immediately ignored my presence and started stretching. Like that would help him any.

"Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know you were the avatar," Suki started to bow again in apology but I quickly stopped her.

"Don't worry about it Suki. Seeing you kick Sokka's butt was totally worth being captured. Besides, you guys gave us free food. You are completely forgiven in my book."

Suki smiled before turning to the only boy in the room.

"Sokka is it? I apologize to you too for yesterday's incident."

Stretching his arms, Sokka's sexist remarks only grew worse. "It's alright. Normally I would hold a grudge, but seeing as how you guys are a bunch of girls I'll make an exception."

I swear if Suki didn't hurry up and kick his butt again I would go all avatar state and do it myself.

In fact, I was pleased to see that Suki was playing along with this quite sarcastically.

"I should hope so. A big strong man like you? We wouldn't stand a chance," she mocked in a high girly voice.

I let out a snicker. Sokka flashed a quick glare in my direction before returning his attention to Suki.

"True…but don't feel bad. After all, I'm the best warrior in my village," gloated Sokka, crossing his arms proudly over his chest.

I burst out laughing but struggled to keep it in. "Yeah, only because the other warriors are as taller as your knees and need to go on a potty break every five minutes."

"Well maybe the best warrior would be kind enough to give us a little demonstration," suggested Suki.

Sokka's confidence fizzled away with that one sentence.

I could no longer hold back my laughter. "Yeah, Sokka. Show us how a _real_ man fights."

Sokka attempted to blubber out an excuse, but Suki flattered him in front of the girls and convinced to him to give a demonstration.

Now, you all know what happens next. And you have no idea how hard it was for me to stop laughing long enough to actually watch it happen. In the end Sokka was hopping on one foot across the room with his hand tied to his ankle before he finally tumbled to the ground, his face rapidly turning a nice shade of pink.

Suki was my hero for finally humbling that guy, maybe he would finally get off my case now about being a _girl_ avatar.

After Sokka had hopped out in shame I stayed behind. Once he was out of earshot I started clapping.

"Alright Suki, it's about time somebody finally put Sokka back in his place."

"Thank you avatar—"

I groaned. "Call me Jessica, I'm tired of being reminded that I'm the avatar."

"Thank you…Jessica. But something tells me you didn't stay behind just to applaud me," the Kyoshi warrior guessed.

"Yeah. Unlike the blue flamingo that just hopped out I know when I stink."

Suki looked puzzled. I was making no sense to her was I?

"You know, a flamingo? It's a bird with long legs that usually stands on one foot all the time. It's usually pink so I called him a blue flam—oh nevermind! The point is I can't fight a guy off for more than five seconds, there's a crazy banished prince trying to capture and imprison me for life, and I need to you to train me!"

It took the girl warrior a minute to sort through the incoherent babble that came out of my mouth, but when she finally understood what I was asking of her her eyes opened wide and she bowed before me again. I really wished she would stop doing that.

"It would be my honor to train the avatar."

* * *

Cue the training montage. You know, that upbeat song they play in a movie while the main character goes through months of training in less than three minutes? It's basically how movies get away with making the hero a master of Kung Fu or whatever in a couple of minutes and move on with the story with a guy who can actually save the world.

Sadly that is not how this training montage went for me. My training montage lasted for about a week. Aang trained me in airbending in the morning while Suki trained me in basic fighting and defense skills in the afternoon. At night I moaned and groaned about my aching limbs while stuffing my face at dinner before conking out in seconds when my head hit the sleeping bag. Ignore the training montages in the movies. Training is long and exhausting and makes one sore all over. And I've only been doing it for a week!

I would love to tell you that by now I had practically half-mastered airbending and knew how to make tornadoes and use the air scooter. Yeah…no. I stunk. Airbending must not be my main element(if I even had one) because I just couldn't do it.

"Aang! I can't take it anymore! The air hates me!" I shouted in frustration after three hours straight of blowing on the second day. I had asked Aang to teach me a quick move that I could use against the firebenders to give myself a chance to runaway when they came after me before beginning the full on intense airbending training.

He had approved, of course. It was important that I was able to escape from those hotheads. We had agreed on the most basic technique there was. Blowing air. I think Aang used it against Zuko or some soldier in the series. Basically you just took in a deep breath and gather up all the energy inside your lungs, then you let in out in one large gust of air. It was best used on a single person standing before you. Such as Zuko coming up and trying to grab me or as a sneak attack from behind.

"Just concentrate Jessica," Aang said patiently.

I nodded and closed my eyes.

"Now take a deep breath. Let your lungs expand fully as they fill themselves with air."

I breathed in as much as I could, puffing up my cheeks.

"When you've fully filled your lungs let it all out at once, aiming it right in front of you by blowing as hard as possible."

I felt the energy build up inside me. I was going to get it this time! When I couldn't hold it in any longer I blew out as hard as possible with all the force I could muster to get…

Nothing. Nada.

Not even the leaves on the ground before me rustled, mocking me in their stillness.

"YA DANG STUPID AIR! DO SOMETHING WILL YA?"

Aang held up his arms and tried to calm me down.

"Now Jessica, it's normal not to get it right away. Airbending is not something you just pick up in a day."

"Yeah, but I'm the avatar! I need to be able to do _something _if I'm ever expected sa—to save th—to….ACHOO!" My sentence was unexpectedly cut short as I was suddenly sent up over thirty feet in the air.

It was pretty exciting, though I think I left my stomach behind on the ground. Then I realized what this meant.

"Yeah! I'm airbending!" I cheered, pumping my fists in the air in victory.

Of course, during my victory there was one little thing I forgot about and suddenly remembered when my body stopped going up. Gravity.

"W-wai-oof!"

I could hear the giggles from Aang's fangirls as I sat up, hurting all over. I spit some dirt out of my mouth and wiped more from my face.

"That was great!" said Aang happily. "Now you just have to airbend at will!"

I just glared at the perky bald little airbender. He was lucky I couldn't firebend yet.

* * *

At the end of the week, after a long morning of attempting(and mostly failing) to learn how to blow air hard enough to sweep a person off their feet I was ready to return to Suki. She was teaching me mostly self-defense too, since that was all I could learn in such a short amount of time. I was doing slightly better with her due to my short series of self-defense classes my dad had forced me to take in middle school.

What I saw when I walked into the dojo instantly had me doubled over, rolling on the floor laughing.

"What is _she_ doing here?" Sokka shouted. "She is the last person I want witnessing me in this girly uniform!"

"You got that right," I wiped the tears from my eyes as I sat up on the floor, still stifling my laughter. This was better than the sharpie mustache. "I will never let you forget this moment Sokka. I promise you that."

The young crossdresser frowned at all the future torture this would bring him.

"Do I _have_ to wear this Suki?"

"This is a warrior's uniform, you should be proud. The silk thread symbolizes the brave blood that flows through our veins. The gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart," she explained.

Sokka looked down at his uniform. He smiled and puffed his chest out proudly.

"Bravery and honor…"

"Yeah, you can give it as many fancy names as you want Sokka. That doesn't get rid of the fact that it's a dress," I grinned.

Aang, who happened to be passing by, popped his head in to offer his support.

"Hey Sokka, nice dress."

I fell back on the floor into another fit of laughter. Sokka slumped forward grumpily.

"Does she _have _to be here?" he groaned.

"As a matter of fact she does. I've been training the avatar for almost a week now in special defense techniques."

"_Special_ as in super easy for beginner dummy fighters," I clarified.

Sokka sputtered, waving his arms around frantically. "She's been training under you? Why doesn't she have to a wear a dress and makeup?"

Suki glanced over at me, realizing that Sokka was right.

"You know what Sokka. You're right. We will have the avatar in our official warrior's uniform immediately."

I made a dash for the door. There was no way they were going to put me in a dress. Unfortunately, two Kyoshi warriors popped out of nowhere and grabbed me before I could even get out of the dojo. One of them was holding a spare uniform as they dragged me into the adjacent room to change. Where did they even get one so fast? Was there a secret closet full of spare uniforms?

Now it was Sokka's turn to laugh when I returned fully clothed in the green warrior dress, my face coated in white makeup with the area under my eyebrows painted red. I felt like a circus clown.

"It' s not funny," I growled at Sokka.

He didn't cease his laughter.

"Oh yes it is, especially considering how miserable you look. You actually look like a girl for once."

"What do you mean _for once_? I always look like a girl."

"Oh please. You wear pants. You don't even wear a skirt over it. That's not like a girl at all."

I sucked in a large breath and blew as hard as possible in the crossdressing oaf's general direction. It wasn't as strong as Aang's gusts of wind, but it was enough to knock Sokka back four feet and onto his butt.

"Just wait until I master all four elements buddy," I warned as I exited the dojo. "Cause I'm gonna earthbend your butt all the way to the moon."

"Wait, where are you going Jessica?" asked Suki. "I can train both of you at the same time."

I grinned mischieviously. "I know, but my psychic avatar senses are telling me to let you two train together for a while."

The last thing I heard as I walked away was Suki's voice.

"Psychic avatar senses?"

"It's a _looong_ story."

* * *

Still in a dress and warrior make up I returned to the inn we were staying at, hoping that they had already set up the next buffet for lunch, or at least had some leftovers from breakfast I could snack on.

But instead I food a found a sour looking waterbender. I grabbed a bread roll from the table and leaned against the wall.

"Hey grumpy gills. What's got you looking like a horse?"

Katara raised an eyebrow. "A horse?"

"Yeah, you know. When people are upset you say they have a long face. Horses have a long face."

Katara just started back blankly.

"Okay. Fine. I get it. No more animal puns. They fall dead on all you guys anyway."

"What's a horse?"

I groaned loudly and took a large bite out of my roll. "Nevermind," I grumbled through a mouth full of food.

"So are you one of the Kyoshi warriors Sokka keeps talking about?" Katara asked curiously.

I nearly choked on my roll. Punching my chest I coughed a bit and swallowed it down.

"What are you talking about? It's me Jessica. You know, the crazy psychic avatar you've been traveling with?"

Katara's eyes widened as she finally recognized me.

"Jessica! You look just like them in that warrior uniform. And you actually look like a girl."

My face went red under the white makeup.

"Why does everybody keep saying that? I _always_ look like a girl! It's not my fault none of the girls here wear pants!" I shouted indignantly. "I can't wait until we meet Toph. Now there's somebody who will relate with me."

The waterbender looked at me questioningly. Whoops. I think it might have been too soon to mention Toph just yet.

"Who's Toph?" Katara asked.

"Who?"

"Toph, the girl you just mentioned."

"I didn't mention anyone."

"Yes you did. You mentioned a girl named Toph. You said we would meet her."

"Meet who?"

"TOPH!"

"Who's Toph?"

Katara threw up her hands in frustration. "Nevermind!"

I shrugged with a feigned ignorance on the outside, sighing with relief on the inside. Now was a good time to change the subject. Katara had never answered why she'd looked so grumpy when I walked in.

"It's because Aang's become a pompous airhead during our stay and it's been driving me up a wall. And now he's out there riding the Unagi to show off to all his little fangirls," Katara ranted bitterly. She stuck her tongue out at the word 'fangirls'.

At first I laughed and reached for another roll, remembering the little fangirls who followed him around town like a group of munchkin paparazzi. Then it dawned on me. What happened after the ride on the Unagi. Why we were supposed to be in a hurry to leave. I dropped the roll. Suddenly hunger was the last thing on my mind.

"Fishsticks! Freakin' flyin' flippin' fishsticks!" I kicked the roll at the wall then turn my head at Katara. "KATARA!"

She jumped from her spot on the floor. "What?"

I seized her arm and pulled her up, pushing her to the door.

"You need to go to Aang now! Save that stupid monk kid from the giant eel!"

"Eel?"

"The Unagi! You gotta save him from the Unagi! And fast! Zuzu is going to be here any minute with his soldiers and they're going to try to capture me again and I really don't want to have to escape from that ship again and they're going to burn half the village down and I don't want to be stuck in a cell for the rest of my life!" I explained in a lightning fast ramble.

Katara stopped short, sifting through the information I had just given her. Half of it probably made no sense to her.

"Who is Zuzu?"

"The crazy firebending prince with the scar and the ponytail! How can you not know that? The nickname suits him perfectly. It doesn't matter, go get Aang and let's get out of here before he can attack this place. Maybe we can draw him away."

The waterbender nodded and ran out the door. It was a good thing I was supposedly psychic, otherwise I would have been dubbed a madman ages ago.

Gah! Stupid stupid stupid! I should have known I couldn't stay here so long! If we'd left a few days ago this wouldn't have happened. I had to warn the village. Get them prepared. The Kyoshi warriors. I had to warn them first.

* * *

"Come out avatar! You can't hide from me forever," shouted Zuko over the village.

At first glance it looked deserted, but with a closer look one could see the scared faces poking out through doorways and windows. Zuko knew she was here in the village. His amber eyes scanned the windows for his target. Where was she?

"Find her," he ordered to his soldiers. Three rhinos with two soldiers each advanced slowly and menacingly into the main street of the village. Heads ducked inside in fear.

A flash of green passed between two houses. Zuko searched the area, something wasn't right. He heard the crunching of snow and shifted his gaze to the roofs, but it was too late.

Green warriors jumped off the rooftops wielding fans. One landed before a rhino and used her fan to pull away a soldier's spear before knocking him clean off the saddle. A short haired warrior, most likely the leader, darted straight through to the Prince. Zuko shot some fire at her but she just dodged it as she ran. Five feet away the warrior jumped at him. Zuko bared his teeth and spun his rhino around so that his tail smacked her away to the snowy ground.

_What a nuisance_, thought Zuko as he blasted a fireball at the fallen warrior. Before it could strike her, a crossdressing boy warrior who looked vaguely familiar came up and blocked it with his fan. It was the oaf from the south pole.

"Not you again," Zuko scowled. "How many times do I need to teach you to stay out of my way?"

He raised his fist for another blow just when a snowball hit him in the back of the head.

* * *

I smirked as the snowball hit its mark. _ I may not be a master bender, but you can't deny my mad snowballing skills._

The snowball quickly melted to steam atop the firebender's head. He spun around on his rhino to face me. It was weird. He didn't look at me with the hatred he had in the South Pole. He wasn't even shouting at his soldiers to grab me. That's when I realized it. He didn't recognize me! To him I was just another annoying Kyoshi warrior with too much make-up.

"What's the matter ponytail boy? You don't like getting beat up by a bunch of girls?"

Maybe I was pushing it, considering I had no chance against him. But I'd been waiting to use that line on him for forever.

Zuko's eyes narrowed at 'ponytail boy.'

"You," he said. "I should have known you would try and disguise yourself. No matter. Men! After her!"

I shrieked and ran behind Sokka. This was not good. I was going to become a shishkabob before lunchtime. Which was too bad considering I really liked shishkabobs.

"What are you doing?" asked Sokka over his shoulder. "You're the avatar aren't you?"

"You know what Sokka? I've decided that you're right. Guys are stronger than girls. Now go have a manly fight with Zuko to prove your manliness and whatnot," I suggested as I slowly took a few steps away. "In the meantime I will be cheering you on as I run in the other direction. Toodles!"

I turned and dashed off down the street, allowing Sokka to have a rematch with Zuko. Unfortunately I didn't make it very far. A soldier came out from between two houses and, unable to stop, I ran right into him.

"Ow! Watch where you're going skeleton face."

He didn't reply, just raised his fist. Suddenly the air was forced out of my lungs as he punched me in the stomach. Hard.

For the record, when a large armored man punches you in the gut. It freaking hurts!

"Sweet Jesus…" I muttered breathlessy as I fell forward.

Landing on my knees I gasped for breath. But as I was finally able to draw one in his armored boot connected with my side and kicked me five feet away onto my back.

"Ow…that did not feel good," I moaned as I struggled to get up.

Three Zukos blurred together into one as the Prince hopped off his rhino and approached me. I tried to move, make myself run away. But the air had been knocked out of me and I was struggling to get over the shock and breathe regularly. All I managed to do was clutch a handful of dirt before Zuko grabbed my collar and lifted me up with one hand. Dang he was strong!

His deep amber eyes bore into mine, oozing with hatred. I grinned sheepishly and threw the pile of dirt into my face. The Prince raised an eyebrow at my strange actions, but I raised a finger at him signaling 'wait for it…'

"A-a-a-ACHOOOO!"

Instantly a rush of air flung me thirty feet into the air and Zuko against the nearest wall. I almost laughed in victory until I remembered my issue with gravity. My way back down was spent screaming at the top of my lungs. Luckily I landed in a large pile of snow on the roof.

"This is not my day," I groaned rubbing my side. I was sure to wake up with some bruises from all this tomorrow. My stomach still ached from being punched, and my side from being kicked. I didn't remember Aang going through this. Then again he was a master airbender. What could I do? I could throw snowballs and sneezebend. Yup, I was doomed.

"Jessica! Come on!"

I looked above me to see find Aang, Katara, and Sokka flying down on Appa. Sokka's hand came down and I reached out to grab it.

Appa quickly gained altitude as I was finally pulled on to safety. I hyperventilated for about fifteen seconds, the rush of adrenaline exiting my system. I was not cut out for all this fighting. I was just an A student in high school who drew a lot on the side. Nowhere in that was there ever any fighting experience!

After I had managed to calm down I crawled over to the edge of the saddle and surveyed the damage Zuko's crew had done. Despite the snow half the houses had small fires burning on the rooftops and off the walls. Although Zuko's men had caused it, I still felt responsible. I'd known this was going to happen and yet I had done nothing to try and prevent it, instead allowing myself to get caught up having fun in this world.

Well not anymore. If I was going to survive then I had to have a plan. I had to keep everything going as close to the plotline as possible, that way I could still be 'psychic' most of the time. Except when people were at stake. If I had the opportunity to save someone who had died on the show then I promised myself I would change things in any way possible to save them.

Little did I know how hard it would be for me to actually follow through on my promise.

* * *

Ooooohh...foreshadowing. You guys have no idea what I have in mind for poor Jessica. But I can tell you that I will try to change things more and more from the show as I go. Wouldn't want this story to start getting predictable now would I? I also might skip filler episodes here and there if I fell they won't really add anything to my story.

And as for who Jessica gets paired up with...I'm not telling! You'll just have to wait and see. What fun would it be if I told you and just analyzed every little thing between them as a sign of love or what not? It's much for fun to to keep you guessing. Feel free to tell me who you think it's going to be, though I won't tell you if you're right.

Anyways, you know the circle of life!(or fanfiction) I post a chapter, you give reviews, I get encouraged to write another chapter and post it and it goes on and on! Then you can go reward yourself with a cookie knowing you made my day just by sacrificing ten seconds of your time!


	9. I need YOUR help for the next chapter!

Ok readers, I know you're expecting another chapter, but I'm afraid that's not what this is. But please keep reading and I promise it will be worth your while.

I've been working on the next few chapters of my story lately, thinking of new ideas. I have most of the rest of the season planned out, just a few plot holes here and there. Along the way I got the very helpful Spirit-of-the-Rain who has agreed to become my beta reader and has already helped me out in future chapters. Then grapejuice101 inspired me to write a chapter that I was at first going to leave out altogether.

The point is, I realized that two heads are better than one. So for this next chapter I figured that feedback from anyone would be useful. Basically I just need an answer to this question. What kind of test do you think King Bumi would put Jessica through? I am open for any suggestions! Both humorous or serious tasks. Tasks that require clever thinking, luck, or skill. Seriously, any ideas are welcome! They don't even have to be specific. Tell me something vague and I will turn it into something if I like it. Just think! What do you want to put Jessica through?

A big thank you to Spirit-of-the-Rain and grapejuice101 for already helping me so much!

Any ideas we be credited to the person when chapter is posted! Good publicity right?


	10. Flying 101

Ok, I know. It's summer and yet I'm slower than during the school year. Well, it's been a heck of a busy summer with my art camp, orientation, portrait commisions and just plain getting ready for college. You have NO idea!

Now as a special treat for your everlasting _patience_ and _forgiveness_ and _acceptance of waiting_ I am having a Jessica questionairre. This is how it works. In the reviews you may ask the character Jessica any question you like. It can be about her personality, her likes/dislikes(_do you enjoy eating parsnips?_), what she would do in a situation, what she would rather do(_would you rather punch Sokka, Aang, or Zuko in the face the most?_), or anything that comes to your mind. It can be crazy or funny or random. I will do by best to answer these questions on Jessica's behalf as long as they don't contain spoilers(such as who she gets with) or are inappropriate. Otherwise, go nuts!

I will post questions and answers in the next chapter if you wish.

Also, you guys replied to my request and gave me so many amazing ideas for the Bumi challenges. Unfortunately I won't get to use them all since I got so many, but please know that whether I use it or not it was still a great idea. There honestly was not one that I didn't like. I'd use them all but I don't have that kind of time and would like to be able to eventually get past Bumi and onto other stuff(I have so much planned for the rest of the season. Here's a clue: spanish soap operas. You can interpret that any way you like, but I'm not telling. :D )

And now, a special thanks to all of you who submitted Bumi challenge ideas, whether I end up using yours or not it was still awesome and greatly appreciated!

Spirit-of-the-Rain

pres1111

amythist7

ZXCVBNMEM

XxI-Stole-Your-CookiexX

SplitPersonaliti

* * *

I stood at the edge of Appa's saddle, staring down at the ground a gazillion feet below with knees shaking like jello. And I didn't even like jello.

"Ok, first time flyers are you ready?"

"Heck no!"

I felt like my death was coming much sooner than necessary. But Aang insisted that I had come far enough in my airbending training to finally learn how to glide with my staff. Standing here I was seriously starting to rethink his decision.

Everything below us looked so tiny, like part of a toy set. I could even see clouds floating nonchalantly under us, just to prove how high up we were. My stomach was in knots and every fiber of my being was screaming in my ear with a megaphone not to jump off a flying bison with nothing but a stick. Sorry, I mean _glider._ Seriously, what rational person would be able to fearlessly jump?(airbenders don't count) Ok, so maybe I wasn't that much of a rational person, but I didn't have a deathwish!

"Come on Jessica! This will be fun!" Aang said encouragingly.

"Or fatal," I added. "Whichever floats your boat you know."

Sokka snickered. "Looks like the avatar isn't so tough after all. Can't even learn to fly better than a twelve year old."

"Oh yeah? Why don't _you_ come jump off a flying bison ten billion feet off the ground and see where it gets ya?"

The smug water tribe warrior stood up. "I have a better idea."

I immediately realized what he was thinking as he walked towards me. Sputtering protests I stumbled backwards to get away from Sokka. My ankle caught on the leather saddle edge and I was sent hurtling towards the ground.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, hugging my staff for dear life. It wasn't helping.

The air stung my face and whipped my hair behind me. Panic took over as I stared wide eyed like a doe at the rapidly approaching ground. Why must you do this to me gravity?

Aang appeared next to me, gliding with ease and smiling like I wasn't falling to my death at that very moment.

"Jessica! You have to open the glider's wings if you want stop falling!" he shouted at me over the rushing air.

I broke out of my panic mode and fiddled with the staff, struggling to remember what Aang had taught me. The wings popped out and I was suddenly flung upwards into the air. Still screaming in terror I might add.

My body instinctively got into position on the glider and, with Aang's constant guidance(and me screaming for dear life like a little girl the whole time), I managed to glide on the air currents(eventually, it took a while). Well, I managed to glide a straight line anyway. The whole steering thing wasn't quite working out for me yet.

Then a large airstream blew under and lifted me up. I felt terrified, my panic almost returning and my stomach getting that gut feeling one gets on roller coasters.

It was the best experience ever.

I'd had so many dreams about flying. Wished for it. Hoped for genies to pop up so I could wish for it. Imagined time and time again while staring at birds what it would be like to soar above the world.

For the record, this was a thousand times better than anything my imagination could conjure up.

"How is it?" Aang asked as he flew up next to me.

"Best. Day. Ever."

I laughed, then shrieked at the top of my lungs as I rocketed downwards for about twenty feet before pulling myself back to a glide. Panting heavily from the exhilaration I smiled up at Aang.

"I never wanna touch the ground again!"

The bald kid chuckled, informing me that I would have to land eventually.

Just then I remembered something. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my sleek black sunglasses, slipping them on. I knew these would come in handy.

"Hey Aang, how do I look?" I flashed a smile and looked over my sunglasses at him.

"What are those?" he asked.

"Sunglasses. They protect your eyes from the sun, but where I'm from people usually just wear them because they think it makes them look cool." I bet no other avatar looked this cool while gliding. A giggled escaped my lips as I pictured Avatar Roku gliding through the air with my sunglasses, casually smiling his shining teeth at the girls as he flew by.

I tilted my glider to the left a bit to attempt steering while flying. A blast of wind caught the wing and sent me spinning off in that direction at least fifty feet. Twirling rapidly midair I was unable to tell what way the ground was, which was bad considering I had no way of knowing if that was direction I was hurtling in right now. With Aang shouting directions I managed to tilt the wings and stabilize myself and on a slow but steady air current.

My head felt dizzy and my stomach was long gone. Little laughing Sokkas and Momos danced mercilessly around my head.

"I think I'm gonna barf," I groaned, sure my face was turning a light shade of green at that very moment.

"Don't worry, you're doing great for your first flying lesson. With some practice you'll have it down in no time…." Aang trailed off midsentence, staring at the ground below them.

I turned my head to see what he was staring at. It was a giant city made of rock that rose up in three tall mountains.

"Omashu…" said Aang in wonder, a wave of memories from his earlier days probably flooding back to him.

"Cool! I didn't think we'd get here for another week!"

"You knew we would come to Omashu?"

I wiggled my eyebrows over the sunglasses and grinned. "Psychic avatar powers remember?"

As we slowly lost altitude, I gazed down at the massive city. I'd forgotten how big it was, and all made of rock too. Suddenly, an important thought crossed my mind.

"Hey Aang?" I asked as the ground closed in on us.

"Yeah?" Aang pulled his glider up a smidge at the last second and landed smoothly. Meanwhile I continued to head for the ground at full speed.

"HOW DO YOU LAND THIS THING?"

I attempted to pull my glider up like Aang had, but its wings picked up on a breeze and flew straight up twenty feet. Fighting for control over the contraption that had gained free will I veered sideways. The wind refused to comply, flipping me over backwards and whisking me off upside down in who knows what direction.

"Aaaaaaaaahh! Aang!WhatdoIdoIthinkI'mgoingto—"

I let go of the glider and smashed into Appa's large furry body with a loud 'oof!'

"Crash…" I groaned as the momentum left me and I slid off Appa to the ground.

* * *

"Do I have to wear this? It's so itchy! I don't know how you live with this stuff Appa!" Aang complained loudly as he itched at the bundle of fur tied over his head.

"Aaw, but you look so cute! Like my grandpa!" Jessica patted the top of his furry hairdo. Momo jumped up on her shoulder and curiously started to pet the fur on Aang's head as well.

Aang groaned. "Why doesn't she have to wear a disguise? She's the avatar!"

"Yeah, but I'm not the one with the giant blue arrow tattooed on my head. Subtle-much?"

Katara gave her a thoughtful look.

"I think Aang's right Jessica. You need a disguise too. Your clothes are just too…"

"Different, weird, noticeable, out-of-this-world?" Jessica couldn't help but snicker at that last one, considering how true it really was.

"Exactly," cut in Sokka. "And you being noticed is the last thing we want," He grabbed a cloak off Appa's saddle and tossed it to Jessica. "Now grab some fur and stuff it."

* * *

The guard at the large stone gates of Omashu stared straight ahead and watched as what looked like two oddly dressed kids and their grandparents walked towards them. He had just finished knocking over a man's cart of rotten cabbages and wondered if these people had anything he could knock over the edge. It always brightened his day a bit when he had the chance to do so. After all, standing guard all day in the hot sun while wearing the uniform could become very boring and quite unbearable at times.

As they approached he noticed that the younger girl was looking worried while the younger boy just looked hungry. Even though the two were dressed oddly it was the grandparents that he found quite strange. The grandpa was short with a large white mustache and a tall patch of hair bigger than his head that was tied together with a rope. The grandma was the taller one of the two, slightly hunched over under a black cloak with similar unruly white hair sticking out in all directions. Both of them carried identical staffs.

He stepped before them authoritively. "Stop! What business have you in Omashu?"

The old lady squinted her eyes at him as if to get a better look.

"What did ye say? Ye want me to kiss yer shoe? What kind of a request is that?" she croaked loudly.

The guard cleared his throat and spoke louder. "Why have you come to Omashu?"

"I don't wanna go to the zoo! Jus' lemme in!"

"No, what are you here for?"

"My ear ain't caught in no door!" she cried heatedly before bending down to her husband. "Methinks all his standing in the sun might be a messin' wit 'is mind a bit."

Now the guard was starting to get just a bit irritated.

"It's not that!"

"Did ee jus' call me a dingbat? Dear, ye gonna let'im talk to ye wife like that?"

The grandpa flipped his staff skillfully and whipped it up under the guard's chin. He squinted and attempted to glare into the guard's brown eyes.

"Did you just insult my wife young man?"

All the while the two kids had been watching on worriedly as their older relatives made a scene, forcing themselves not to interfere. The girl was shaking her head desperately mouthing 'no' while the boy's eye twitched fiercely. But this action finally caused the girl to rush up and push away his staff.

"Now grandpa, I'm sure the nice man didn't mean anything by it," she assured him as she gently gripped his shoulders and pulled him away.

"I swear the young folk these days have no respect for their elders!" he grumbled, crossing his skinny arms over his chest.

The guard was starting to realize that he wasn't getting anywhere with them. Best to just move on before things got worse.

"Alright settle down. What are your names?"

The old man spun around and gave a friendly smile. "The name is Bonzu! Pippinpatslopakopolis…the third!"

The young girl introduced herself as June and excused her grandparents' behavior.

"Just be sure to keep your eye on them so that there's no trouble."

"I don't see any bears in a bubble!"

The guard gave one last sideways glance at the old lady before turning back to the young girl.

"You seem like a responsible young girl June. Watch your grandma."

* * *

We looked out in awe at the large kingdom of Omashu. It loomed high over us, with miles and miles of stone chutes encircling it. The city itself was the shape of a giant cake. Decorating it were hundreds of orange stone buildings stacked atop one another. All around us was the constant sound of packages whizzing down the slides to their destination.

I noticed Aang eyeing the chutes, no doubt remembering his time with Bumi.

"I know what you're thinking Aang."

"You do? Wanna do it?" he asked excitedly, looking ready to jump thirty feet into the air with anticipation.

"You bet," I grinned and held up my pointer finger. "I just need to make one little adjustment to your plans."

Not much later the four of us found ourselves perched precariously at the top of the world's largest super slide. Or mail chutes if you want to be all boring about it.

There was just one difference to the way this happened on the actual show.

Boys versus girls.

That's right. I'd stuck Aang and Sokka in a carrier and Katara and I in another. We had found two chutes right next to each other and hopped in. Our stone crates now wavered dangerously on the edge. I could see the city spread out below us and the steepness of the chute. My stomach got that sinking feeling again, similar to the one you'd get while inching up a rollercoaster. The terrifying yet exhilarating dread experienced at the top in that one second before you fall. But this wasn't like jumping off Appa. There was a clear course and the chances of survival were much higher. I think.

Sokka started sputtering crap about starting at the count of five. That was five seconds too long.

"Hey Katara, did this sound fun to you at first, but now you're getting second thoughts?"

"Well actually—"

"TOO LATE!"

I leaned forward, causing our crate to lose its balance and zip forward ahead of the competition as Sokka said "four". I heard the angry oaf shout something along the lines of "no fair!" and "that's cheating!", but I just turned and stuck my tongue out at the approaching rivals.

Unfortunately, there was a loud "Hang on!" and whoosh of air behind us. Next thing I knew Aang's cart was zipping past us at five times our speed.

Katara paused her screaming to give a sigh of relief.

"Well it looks like they've won. We might as well end the race now."

That was funny. Katara actually thought we could just end the race. Like I was going to let a bald little twelve year old beat me that easily.

"No way! I can airbend too remember? Watch this!"

"Wait! I really think we're going fast enoooouuugggghhhh!" Katara's last word stretched out and turned into a scared yell as I thrust my arm backwards full force. It wasn't a strong as Aangs but it was fast enough.

* * *

Don't worry, the challenges will start next chapter. I promise! I wanted to make this chapter longer but I didn't have time and if I didn't post today then you wouldn't be reading this for at least another two weeks due to lack of internet. I will be able to type though and I have half of the next chapter already written, so I promise you won't have to wait as long. Please review!

Don't forget the Jessica questionairre! Ask Jessica any question you want about her and it will be answered(unless it involves spoilers of course).

And for those reading this later on after more chapters have been posted, you can still ask questions!


	11. Flying Chicken Legs and Falling Keys

Hey guys! Long time no see huh? *is pelted by rocks and cement filled rubber duckies*

Ok, ok, so maybe I haven't updated since...like...August or something, but you're not exactly mad are you? Oh you are? Well tough cause I'm the writer. MUAHAHAHAHA!

Anyways, my excuse this time is that it has been my freshman year of college and god has it been hectic. Especially finals week. Don't even get me started on that. I'm part of the Honor's College here so I have to keep my GPA above 3.5 at all times. And I have switched my major to Computer Science, which consists of a multitude of math and computer programming classes. I am in Calculus 3 honors at the moment by the way with a teacher that makes no sense whatsoever. Closer to forgiving me yet? Did I mention my birthday was last week? :D

Anyways, enjoy the chapter. Spring break is next week, so hopefully I can get through the bumi arc and move on, cause I got some big plans for later on that I'm anxious to get to.

The idea for the first test was given to me by Spirit-of-the-Rain. I have changed it quite a bit and molded it to my liking, but I never would have done it without them.

* * *

Omashu soldiers lead Katara and I into a massive throne room with green carpets, insignias, and even green lighting. Now I know that you're probably guessing what happened to get us arrested and taken before the one and only King of Omashu(Bumi as I recall), but I'm tellin' ya…it wasn't my fault. I can't help it if gravity doesn't agree with me.

"Aang? Sokka? You're here too?" Katara noticed.

"Hehe, we sorta went off track and crash through some one's room and into a cabbage cart," admitted Aang guiltily with a nervous laugh.

Off to the side stood the cabbage man glaring at the two boys and grumbling about his precious cabbages being ruined. I suppressed the laughter that that scene had brought me years ago. A serious urge to glomp him came over me, but I had to suppress it due to the fact that all the guards here probably wouldn't even let me get half way there. So instead I settled for shouting "Hey Cabbage Man!" and waving at him like a madman. His response was a really creeped out look, but it managed to silence his angry mumbling.

Sokka turned his head towards us as we took our places next to the two boys. "So why is there a banana peel on Jessica's head? Is that jelly on your face Katara?"

"And why are you two both wet?"

Katara's eyes widened as she relived the event in her mind. She even gave a small shudder. _It looks like I'll have to explain it all_, I thought as I plucked the banana peel off my head. My hair was going to need some serious shampooing tonight.

"Well, we _were_ catching up to you and getting really close to kicking your butts when our slide took a sharp turn…" I counted the following events on my hand as I stated them. "And then there was this cart of angry caged up foxmonkeys and a fruit stand that lost all its bananas and now that poor lady is going to have to redo her lovely kitchen and remake that utterly delicious raspberry pie and then these soldiers thought we were the enemy infiltrating the city, chasing us until we crashed into a bakery and lost them. Though they found us later on after we landed in the fountain with funny tasting water and that whiny kidnapped chinchillarat."

The two boy just stared at us in disbelief. Sokka's eye twitched slightly.

"Wait, why did the fruit stand lose all its bananas?"

"We had to get rid of those escaped angry foxmonkeys somehow."

"And the lost pie?"

"On Katara's face," I pointed at the waterbender next to me, whose face was slowly turning to a shade similar that of the pie. She wasn't exactly happy with me at the moment.

Aang started to ask about the Chinchillarat kidnapping when we were suddenly silenced by the king's entrance.

* * *

"Here young man, you look like you could stand to get some meat on those bones. Try the chicken!" suggested King Bumi and stuffed skinless chicken leg into Sokka's mouth. Sokka looked surprised at first but got over it after tasting the chicken.

"Psst! Aang!" Jessica whispered loudly as Bumi made his way back to his seat.

"Yeah?"

"Whatever you do, do _not _airbend any chicken. Just duck or something," she warned.

"Why would I start airbending a chicken? And why would it be preferable to airbend a duck instead? I don't think we even have duck at this table."

Jessica slapped her forehead.

"Just don't airbend _anything_ ok?"

The bald airbender nodded and Jessica went on to try the chicken Sokka had been muttering lovingly about since the king had first stuffed one in his mouth. But as she sunk her teeth into the succulent grilled flesh of a dead bird Jessica couldn't help but freeze mid bite. Teeth still in the chicken leg she lifted her eyeballs up to meet that of the King sitting at the other end of the table. He was staring at her intently, his eyes squinting as if trying to see her better, his mouth absentmindedly chewing a lettuce leaf as if he were in deep thought about something. Coming from King Bumi's face, it was a weird and creepy stare.

Jessica returned his intent stare, for she was not the type to look away.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He tilted his head.

She tilted her head.

And blinked.

"Aw crap I blinked!" Jessica slapped her hands over her eyes in defeat. "I demand a rematch!"

King Bumi threw his head back and laughed, then grabbed another drumstick and waved it around distractedly as he talked.

"And where did you say you were from again Mrs. Pippinpatslopakopolis?"

"I didn't."

The chicken drumstick started to make its way slowly towards the king's mouth.

"Then tell me now, for I don't believe I am familiar with your particular accent," he said just before chomping down on the chicken. He pulled it away so that the skin stretched and finally snapped off and waited for the answer.

"Uh…Ba Sing Se?"

"Hmm, interesting…"

The King gave her a thoughtful look. At the same time his hand flung the chicken across the table directly at Aang.

Jessica waved her arm in reflex and a short burst of wind redirected the drumstick away from him and straight at Sokka's head. There was a thunk and the sound of a scrawny oaf falling to the ground.

Aang, who had ducked to avoid the chicken like Jessica had earlier suggested, lifted his bald head over the table edge and turned to Jessica.

"I thought you said no airbending," he whispered loudly.

"Well, it just sort of…_happened,_" Jessica whispered back.

There was a pained groan and mild cursing about bending, followed by a distinct "mmm...chicken" from under the table. Jessica assumed that Sokka was going to be ok.

"Very interesting…" remarked King Bumi, who had not taken his eyes off Jessica the entire time, including when he had thrown the drumstick now residing in Sokka's mouth.

_Aw crap, _thought Jessica._ Let the games begin._

* * *

Bumi lead us to my first 'test' the next morning. My 3 friends had already been kidnapped in the middle of the night and given the sugar crystal rings. They looked so tasty, it took all my willpower not to break off a piece from Katara's arm and start eating it. I needed to be able to free them easily if all else went wrong. And knowing me, that could very well happen.

I was so nervous I swear that if I tugged on my hair right then it would come out in clumps. What if the test was different? What if it was something impossibly hard that required expert bending skills? Which I don't have!

We were walking down an underground corridor…..blahblahblah..watch the show if you're that desperate to get a description about an underground corridor.

When we arrived I breathed a sigh of relief. The location was like that of the first test on the show. Remember? It was that huge cave with a billion stalagmites and stalactites jutting out. Smack dab in the middle of the room was water fall coming from the ceiling with a ladder at the center and the key hanging above it. An earthbending guard had me step on a rock and bended be across the cave onto a precipice. Bumi explained the test, same as it had been when I'd seen it, and then I was on my own.

I knew better than to go through the mistakes Aang had made. I would get through these test as quickly as possible and move on as quickly as possible out of here.

Drawing back my staff, I carefully aimed for the tiny key. If it missed, then…well let's just say I was hoping my planning wouldn't have to go that far.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Bumi looking at me thoughtfully. Probably just analyzing my problem solving skills or something. Deciding to ignore it I practiced my aim real quick with some rocks. I hit the key on the third time. A few more rocks and I was able to hit the key almost every time. Here's to hoping that almost is good enough!

But fate is a cruel, cruel thing and I never got the chance to find out if my awesome aiming-skills of-doom would have succeeding in fetching King Bumi that blasted key. Just as I was about to launch the staff with my aiming-skills-of-doom I heard a loud rumble. And I'm not talking from my stomach. Nope, no sir-ee. This rumble started low and quickly grew until I could feel it vibrating through my bones.

All around me stones—some larger than a car—fell from the cave roof and crashed into the ground, sending up clouds of smaller rocks. Each time one hit the ground it seemed to add to the earthquake, giving it more power.

I stared in disbelief at the flat top of stalagmite I had found myself on. The stone cracked below my feet. Oh, how I had never wished for a large supply of super glue more than I did at that very moment. Another crack and I jumped away from the edge just as it crumbled to the ground. I stood in the middle of the surface as the edges swiftly broke off all around me, stopping at just about a foot away from me. Wow. What a miracle that the stone stopped cracking just enough to save me. What a crazy happenstance of luckiness.

Stupid king probably had some earthbenders hiding in this cave to mess with me.

"You'll have to forgive me Jessica, we've been having quite a few cave ins recently. But personally I find this makes it more exciting, the life of a king can be dreadfully boring at times."

"So you stick people in a crumbling cave to amuse yourself?"

The King just laughed.

He really was mad.

As if that earthquake wasn't bad enough I had to remember the key, the whole reason for my being here in this situation. Maybe I could still knock it down from here and get it to Bumi. He'd have to save me afterwards right? If anything he'd get me out of here just to take me to the next test. Unless he made getting out of this situation the next test. Oh god then what would I do?

I had to stop thinking in what ifs. Get the key first, _then_ worry about everything else when it comes. Good system. Hadn't failed me yet….I think.

Careful not to move my feet and keep my balance I began to aim my staff once more. Instead I watched the ceiling waterfall cave in and the key disappear from my sight. The cave in then caused another tremor and this time my stable piece of rock crumbled below me faster than a burnt cookie.

Before I had a moment to think this through, to perhaps open the glider and save myself, my body plummeted to the ground below. The crumbled rock below me created a jagged surface that threatened to skewer me at the speed I was falling. I was dropping so fast, too fast to open my glider. The fall lasted no more than a few seconds, and in that time some instinct deep inside me kicked in and made my arms spin, creating a weak air funnel that managed to slow my fall to an unfatal speed.

But let me be clear here. I may not have died, but that didn't mean that the landing didn't hurt. In the end my airbending had slowed my dropping speed so that I felt as if I had just fallen off a table my kitchen counter. No death, just bruises and hurt pride.

The sharp rocks tore through my now ratty jacket and cut my arms. Not only that but the ground was covered in about three inches of cold water, leaving me half soaked when I shakily stood up once again.

I checked my limbs, bent my arms, rotated my shoulders, and swung both legs back and forth. Nothing was broken, though everything hurt. My hands wrapped protectively around my arms as I began to shiver. The cold water had seeped through my pants and jacket.

And all this for a freaking _key._ Whatever I had done back home to deserve this I would really love to know. It's because I experimented with the microwave isn't it? How was I supposed to know that trying to dry my socks in there would set them on fire? Please just let me get through this and I will never put wet laundry in the microwave again!

My eyes frantically searched the rocky terrain for the key, or at least something shiny that could have been the key. But nothing seemed to stand out. All the rocks blended together endlessy around me. I wasn't really sure where this cavern ended, if it even did. This had never happened on the show. Aang had never gotten stuck on the ground of cavern after an earthquake with the water rapidly rising…oh crap! The water was rapidly rising!

"Not good, this is not good!" I said to myself, hearing the panic rise in my voice.

I peered down at my feet to check the water level. When I had first stood up it had been about as high as my ankles. Now it was halfway up to my knee and still rising quickly. It's not like I couldn't swim, but I'd never been on the swim team or anything. I was an _ok_ swimmer. And by the looks of how quickly the shallow water was rushing past me, being an ok swimmer was not going to cut it!

Worrying over the rising, rushing(and cold) water I hardly noticed when the telltale key flowed right under me, between my legs, and around the turn at the nearest boulder.

"Hey! Get back here you…you blasted key!" I cried out as I ran after it. Well, I tried to run after it. The water was right below my knee and made running a nearly impossible task, especially with the current.

By the time I had rounded the boulder I didn't see the key anymore. No wait! There, less than ten feet away! I leaped forward and halfed the distance between me and that key. I landed on my stomach in the water and the current actually helped me by pushing me right to it.

Five feet. Four feet. Three feet. Two Feet.

I reached out my arm to the one object that would end this unfathomable test, felt my fingertips brush the cold smooth metal.

Then it flowed into a rock crevice.

I crashed into the rock.

When I opened my mouth to let out a string of curse words even a sailor would find insulting, all I got was a mouthful of water. Not only was the key out of sight, but the water level had now risen to my chest. I pushed away from the rock and tried to stand straight, but the current immediately swept me off my feet and downstream.

This wasn't working.

After realizing how useless I was in the water I decided it was time to get out. But the fallen cave rocks and stalagmite were slippery, making it hard to grab onto anything. It took over a minute of reaching out blindly at the rock until my hands finally found a crevice to latch on to. It was a slick climb and I swear I spent more of the time slipping back down than actually climbing my way up, but despite being wet the rock was rough and pockmarked with many dents and holes for my hands to grab onto. The rubbery soles of my sneakers allowed for my feet to gain some purchase as well.

Eventually I ascended the stalagmite enough to have a view of most of the cave. Luckily the balcony on which Bumi was observing provided a light source and lit up the place, which, although huge, was small enough for me to view it all at once. But past the light, in the darkness, who knew how far this cave went.

The top of the jutting stone was merely a few feet above me, and I would have loved to sit down for a few minutes and gather my thoughts. Urging my tired muscles to put in some more effort, I aimed for the tippy top. As fate would have it, I was not meant to rest. My reaching hand was just over a meter from the top point when my foot misjudged its purchase. Meanwhile my other foot lifted automatically to climb upward. With two feet off the rock and one hand reaching my body immediately started to plummet down.

A scream caught in my throat as I scrambled desperately for anything to hold onto, both hands and feet clawing at the rock. After what felt like centuries my left hand latched onto a hole's edge. I leaned into the rock, panting, and lay my head against the cool wet surface. Looking in a mirror I would probably see eyes wide with fear and panic, clothes soaked and ripped, and hair matted down.

I know you've most likely heard me say this already…but I didn't ask for this! People like me spent days doing schoolwork and doodling and using the computer. They did not wake up one day with a desire to scale caves and search for tiny keys in rushing water!

My body decided right then to involuntarily start shivering. I forced myself to look down at the rushing water. It was most likely deep enough to completely submerge me now. Any chance of seeing that key was gone with the current. Besides, with a current this strong the key probably wasn't even in this section of the cave any more, by now it could have flowed right out from under the city of Ba Sing Se to who knows where!

Then the realization hit me. This meant….

I had failed.

My eyes shut tight and my forehead rested itself against the rock. There was no point in looking anymore.

But why was I surprised? Think about it Jessica! You've never done anything remotely similar to this in your entire life! Compared to everyone here I had lived with more luxuries than even the Earth King(I don't know what he's got, but I can bet it ain't as cool as cable television). And truthfully, I had always been a little spoiled. No I didn't go into tantrums when I didn't get what I wanted, but I definitely took things for granted and just _expected_ certain things to go my way. Of course not every little thing did, but I'm talking about having a house and my own bed and three meals a day kind of stuff. Stuff that was gone now.

I could have called out to King Bumi right then. After all I was technically done wasn't I? The key was gone. I had failed. There was no hope of ever finding in it in these never ending caverns. So why didn't I just give up already and move on to the next test?

Because of my pride. I did not want to admit failure, to hear Bumi say out loud that he was disappointed in me. That he had expected more from the avatar. That the _world_ was expecting more from the avatar. It would be just another brick added to the wall that was preventing me from saving this world.

But at this point what could I do?

Tears started to form at the edge of my squeezed shut eyes, but I forced them back. Being a crybaby would accomplish nothing at this point. I opened my mouth and took deep breath in an effort to calm down. In. Out. In. Out.

As I did this some of the water that was pouring from the ceiling onto my stalagmite perch flowed onto my forehead and down into my mouth. I immediately coughed and spit it back out, but not before I got a chance to taste it. It was a funny taste, which I realized was like sulfur water back home. Harmless really, but the taste was a bit unpleasant. I supposed it was normal in caves like this. Look at me, so crazy I'm babbling on about cave water.

Ok, it was official. I knew what I had to do. Nothing more could be done here and I had to except that fact and move on. No matter how much it disappointed anyone.

I turned my head to face King Bumi and my crystalized friends and said, "I give up."

King Bumi's face broke into a sly smile.

"What was that my dear? I'm afraid I can't quite hear you over here."

Looking away in embarrassment, I swallowed my pride and shouted, "I give up! You win King Bumi!"

* * *

Not expecting that now were you? I'd love to hear what you guys think will happen next. Can anyone guess correctly? I bet you can't!


	12. Choose Your Element

Well, I made it through Freshman year of college! It was killer and the finals were gruesome, but I got out of it with all A's this semester! Now that it is over here a nice chapter to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation! Well, for me at least, not sure when you guys start but I hope you all have great summer. Remember, all that studying is totally worth it in the end.

Ok enough about school, I want to thank all those who gave me feedback and ideas for the bumi tests. I would not have come up with this without them and even though none were used directly, they were used indirectly to get to this. So thank you guys, you're all awesome.

* * *

"Oh for the love of freakin' fishcakes…how do you work this thing?"

For the second time today I was hurtling through the open air to an untimely death. There was just one teensy difference. I was outside falling over the city of Ba sing Se. How did I get into this situation you ask? I understand your curiosity, after all last you heard of me I was sopping wet in a cave.

Yeah…well, long story short I jumped out the first window of King Bumi's palace that we passed by after he had gotten me out of that bloody cave and come above ground. Of course I had failed to think ahead enough as to what might be outside said window. Honestly I didn't expect it to be standing at the top of the cake-shaped city hundreds of feet above the ground.

So now here I was, desperately fiddling with my good for nothing staff to get it to open and save my utterly pathetic life.

"Come on come on come on! Concentrate Jessica!" I remembered Aang's lessons in my mind and finally the wings popped out.

The glider instantly caught a current and flew a hundred feet up into the air. With death a handgrip away I held on for dear life as I tried to position myself correctly. Then I looked forward only to scream bloody murder. Apparently not paying attention to where you were going on a glider equaled crashing into buildings. In this case, the palace.

I had been unable to get completely on my glider, so now my legs were flailing wildly below me. Approaching the side of the palace my legs I actually started to sprint along the wall, with airbending miraculously allowing me to keep up with my glider as I ran. I saw the window I had just jumped out of up ahead and panicked that I would fall right back to the crazy king I had managed to escape from.

But luck was on my side because Sokka chose that moment to look out window. Thanks to stepping on his face I was able to keeping running sideways along the wall until I had the momentum to bend my knees and push off into the open air. My take off was less than graceful as I spun around and did a few involuntary loo-de-loops, but eventually I found a gentle air current and coasted on it towards the outer edges of the city.

Yeah, I would be hearing from Sokka later…

* * *

"Ow…my beautiful face," Sokka slapped his hands to the sides of his face. "Don't be afraid to tell the truth Katara, how badly has this gift to mankind been damaged?"

Shaking uncontrollably, his sister was forced to turn away. He figured she was holding back tears of sadness for the injustice the avatar had committed to his face.

In reality, Katara had both palms over her mouth to muffle her laughter at the sight of Sokka's face red with a sneaker imprint from the bottom of Jessica's shoe. This was better than the mustache incident. Finally Katara couldn't subdue any longer and just buckled over in laughter, one hand clutching her side and the other one pointing at her poor brother. With a short sulk and a defiant 'hmph!', the marked boy turned to the young monk for consolation.

"What about you Aang? You see the terrible crime Jessica did to my handsome face right?"

"Huh what? Yeah, terrible crime, just awful. You should give that man a piece of your mind," he answered distractedly.

"Man? I'm talking about Jessica here! You know, the nutcase who also happens to be an avatar that's been traveling with us on your flying bison? Although she does have that habit of dressing like a boy."

But Aang wasn't paying attention to Sokka right now. No, it was the King that had been the subject of his lingering gaze ever since Jessica had called it quits in the cave. The King, although he was looking out the window at Jessica's flying form headed for the lowest ring of the city, noticed the young airbender's behavior. His eyes shifted to Aang, then looked away guiltily when their eyes met.

Aang took a step towards the King of Omashu.

"Excuse me, but did Jessica call you King Bumi?"

* * *

Honestly, the time of the day was the last thing on Jessica's mind at the moment, but it must have been sometime in the afternoon when she flew through a random window of the king's palace and crashed haphazardly into a pair of unsuspecting guards. Although surprised at first, the two took no time in seizing both her arms and hastily leading her to the throne room.

And so here she was, right back where this crazy mess had all started. Jessica regretted not having hugged the cabbage man while she had the chance.

"Well, if it isn't Mrs. Pippinpatslopakopolis!" cried out the King excitedly, his loud purple outfit clashing horribly against the green throne. And yet for him, it worked. "Care to explain your actions earlier? Did you regret leaving your friends behind in your attempt to escape?"

Shrugging herself out of the guards' hold, Jessica tossed a banana peel off her shoulder and reached into her jeans pocket.

"I'd never abandon my friends."

With a feisty glare, she tossed the object retrieved from her pocket to the King's feet. It took all her willpower not to aim it at his head. She doubted it would really help her get anywhere with this King, despite the momentary satisfaction it might offer her.

The King glanced down at the floor. It was his key.

"I'm afraid that lunch has already come and gone my dear. This key is of no use to me now."

The guards were forced to restrain the avatar as she lunged forward at their king, murder in her eyes.

"No use to you? Do you know what I went through to get that? I'm sick of your challenges! Of all the rotten, no good fishmongers related to Mussolini Hitler Stalin…"

King Bumi held up his hand and, to the surprise of the guards, Jessica reluctantly stopped and stood straight once more.

"Do not worry young avatar, there is some hope for you yet. But first, my curiosity has been peaked. How did you know where to find that key?"

There was a pause at first. Jessica noted that he had asked _how_ and not _where_. He had known all along _where_ it would wind up. Her urge to run up and punch him was only becoming stronger. _Aang's friend my foot! _She decided. _He's going to pay._

"The water tasted funny."

"Excuse me?"

"The water in the cave tasted like sulfur water, which isn't abnormal for cave water, but when I crashed into that public fountain yesterday I had also thought that the water tasted funny. Then I realized that the cave water must be redirected into the city. It was a small chance, but I checked all the fountains and finally found the one with the key. Of course that's when that blasted foxmonkey went down the dark road of pickpocketing and led me on a wild goose chase for your lunch key. It wasn't until I ran into a fruit cart that I finally used bananas to make an exchange."

The king threw his head back and laughed.

"I wasn't wrong when I thought this test would be interesting. You've got some determination. That key could have just as easily ended up in somebody's water pump!"

Jessica smirked, unperturbed.

"Doubt it. You chose the cave and you knew where that particularly current would be redirected. Heck, you probably had earthbenders farther down controlling the tunnels to make sure of it. What fun would it be for you if the key was completely impossible to find?"

His laughing ceased and his eyes met hers. She was more intelligent than she looked. Or acted for that matter.

"Well played avatar, but there is still one detail that you have missed. Three actually."

Her friends! As Jessica's eyes searched the room she quickly came to realize that they were all absent, and had been absent this whole time. How could she have been so stupid?

"Where are my friends?"

"Most likely in need of saving," The king smiled wide, showing off his crooked teeth. "And that my dear, is the final test!"

His right foot stomped the ground and the stone floor right below Jessica opened up and swallowed her whole.

* * *

Jessica screamed as she fell into darkness. Her butt landed not so gently on a stone chute and she was given no choice but to blindly slide down for what felt like ages until she was finally thrust forward into her final test.

The first thing Jessica took in as she stood up was how dark it was. The only light source was the flickering fire on the many torches that covered the terrain . The ground below her was a rough stone, not like the earlier cave, but like those of the earthbending arenas. Hundreds of boulders, some as small as her fist and others as massive as a school bus, littered the arena. But what really confused her were the randomly placed pools of water. After going up to the nearest one she realized that they were only five feet wide and no deeper than a kiddy pool.

_Now this is just getting weird,_ she thought.

"Aang!" Jessica shouted into the darkness. "Katara! Sokka! Are you guys here?"

A loud rumble filled her ears and for a second Jessica thought there would be another cave in. But before she got the chance to duck for cover, the rumble turned into a crash and King Bumi blasted through the ceiling and landed 50 feet away from the avatar. Somebody was a little bit of a showoff.

"Oh sweet jesus, please don't tell me that this means what I think it means? I can't fight! I can barely airbend!"

The King's answer was given with a stomp of his foot, punch of his fist, and a large boulder at least half the teenage girl's height shooting towards her.

* * *

I dove to the side, the stone missing me by a mere inch. Playing dodgeball with Zuko and his fireballs didn't seem so bad anymore. At least they weren't half my size and had the ability to crush me.

"Are you crazy? You could have killed me!" I shouted at him. "We've been over this. I can't even bend one element correctly. I have no chance here!'

Another boulder came for me, this one even bigger. I was able to dodge it, but it had still been way too close for comfort.

"My dear, I hope you are aware that the chances of you winning this fight through dodging are impossible. This test is not on merely avoiding my attacks."

This time a series of small boulders came flying. _Be like the wind_, I told myself as I dodged oncoming attacks. My body flowed through the movements Aang had taught me.

Don't be stiff, move with ease like a leaf does in the wind. Be willing to change position at not even a moment's notice.

Initially it almost worked too, but panic and fear was taking over my body. Unable to calm down and focus my movements ceased to flow.

I tried to airbend, but any blast of air I created was barely enough to knock over a trashcan, which was not even a nuisance for someone as tough as Bumi. My god he had huge muscles. It was just a little freaky on such an old person.

The simple boulder attacks kept coming. I felt as if all airbending knowledge had run away in panic. My staff was over twenty feet away, dropped after the first attack.

I panted from all the running. My legs felt wobbly like spaghetti noodles.

"What else am I supposed to do Bumi? It's not like I have the ability to actually fight back."

Bumi merely lifted his chin in response. The ground below me jutted up and sent me flying into the nearest kiddie pool.

At first I assumed he was messing with me, but as I sat up and shook my head like a wet dog it clicked. The boulders, the torches, the pools. I had all four elements around me.

"This is nuts! I can barely airbend! How am I supposed to bend anything else?"

I think I saw Bumi actually sigh in exasperation.

"Bring him out!"

A figure slid across the ground and was earthbended to center of the arena. It stood up to take in his surroundings, but couldn't do much with both hands cuffed behind his back.

"Aang?"

I rushed out of the water and glomped the bald kid. It was so great to see a familiar face. Maybe he could help me fight against Bumi. Obviously, he'd be able to do more damage.

"Uh Jessica?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not exactly sure whats going on, but why are my feet in the ground?"

I stepped back to see Aang's feet had been sunken into the rock right above his ankles. He tried to pull his legs up, but he was stuck in place. Suddenly, a band of pebbles earthbended together slapped across the boy's mouth, rendering him unable to both move and airbend. He was defenseless.

Now I started to get angry, Bumi should know that it was too dangerous to involve Aang like this, but when I spun around to give him a piece of my mind he was gone. I would have cheered if not for the fact that three men in uniform had taken his place.

"We are so doomed…"

What was that crazy king thinking?

I got up and ran away. If I couldn't fight them the least I could do was lead them away from Aang.

But to my horror I found that they weren't following me. Instead they slowly started to continue approaching Aang. Their arms were raised and poised before them, ready to attack the defenseless airbender at any moment. My running away ceased immediately. My eyes met Aang's, and he looked scared.

This was not a game. This was serious.

One of the guards stomped his foot and bended some rocks out of the ground. Honestly I don't know what he kind of attack he had in mind, because I never gave him the chance to use it.

"Don't you touch him!" I yelled furiously. My left hand punched the air and a stream of fire hit the earthbender, knocking him to the ground.

The other two were still attempting to attack Aang. A sudden rage took over me. My mind went blank as instinct took over. Everything happened so quickly. I dashed back towards Aang. As I did so I unleashed a continuous series of punches that swiped the air and shot fire balls at one of the men. After multiple attacks both arms lifted and swung back. In that millisecond they stretched out and pulled past the shoulders. Then both fists thrust forward into one punch, creating a stronger fire blast that knocked the earthbender back ten feet onto his backside.

Adrenaline was still coursing through my veins as I ran to reach Aang. The poor boy was staring at me dumbfounded, but I didn't notice. The reality of the situation had yet to cross my mind. I was still in the battle.

Just then the last earthbender lifted one of the mini-car sized boulders from a nearby pile. His head turned to me. I must have been no more than five feet from Aang now. Without hesitiation he faced the twelve year old and shot the boulder at him.

I jumped in front of Aang. My body went into a simple stance with my right arm stretched forward, palm facing the oncoming rock, and my left hand in a fist at the hip.

I had to wait. It was a wait that couldn't have consisted of more than a second, but timing was crucial.

NOW!

My left fist punched forward with all the energy I had within me and hit the rock at the exact moment of impact.

Time froze.

Heck, the boulder froze midair before my hand. There was a large crack and it broke in two before crashing into the ground.

Both my hands balled into fists, came back to my hips, and together shot forward one last fire blast to knock down the remaining soldier.

A sudden silence came over the arena. What had just happened?

"That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen…" I could hear Aang say behind me in awe. His voice sounded faded and far away in the back ground. I felt drained.

Wait a minute, Aang was supposed to be gagged. I spun around to question him, but one step and my vision blurred over. Up was down and the ground crashed into my face.

* * *

When I opened my eyes I found myself in the earth kingdom version of a hospital room. The difference to the ones back home? Well here the walls were all that same brown stone and the lights came from the glowing green crystals. There were no lightbulbs or beeping machines or tv screens attached to the upper wall to be seen. All I could see was the bed I was lying on, shelves on the opposite wall, and some books on a table by the bed. The books were probably their version of magazines. I picked one up and attempted to read it, but all the writing was in Japanese characters and therefore complete gibberish to me.

"Stupid Mike and Bryan. What are people going to think when they realize the avatar can't even read or write? And there is no way I am learning a new language, Spanish class was bad enough," I tossed the useless book back on the table.

Nevermind all that. As I became less groggy I actually stopped to ponder over why I was in a hospital room to begin with. A quick body scan was done of my arms and legs. I was covered in bruises and now bandaged scratches. A minor throb was coming from my left hand, but other than that I could see no major injuries. So why was I here? When did I even go uncon-OH MY GOD.

Now fully awake everything came rushing back. The final test. Bumi attacking me. Aang being trapped and threatened by other earthbenders. Me firebending.

ME FIREBENDING?

"Oh lord, oh lordy lord."

My mind refused to believe it. I could have just as easily dreamed that whole thing up. After all, I had been unconscious. Maybe Sokka drugged me with cactus juice and it screwed up my memories. I could totally see myself running around screaming "Look at me I'm a firebender!" and punching the air like a madman.

But my curiousity was not going to blow the whole thing off as a dream that easily. I needed proof. My right hand was lifted to eye level. I glared intensely at it. Nothing. I took a deep breath and started over.

A flame the size of a ping pong ball flared up a few inches above my palm.

"Holy crap!" I reeled backwards in shock and rammed my back into the wall. The flame went out and I cursed at the ceiling while rubbing my sore spine.

It wasn't long before I tried it again, although this time I was standing and out of bed. The flame came more easily and was now the size of a baseball. Remembering the scene with Zuko and the candles I took a few deep breaths and watched as the flame expanded with each exhale. I was tempted to poke the fire with my other hand, but decided not to push my luck.

This just felt so unreal. In my hand was a floating flame. And I had control over it. I could feel the heat from the fire on my palm, reminding me of how powerful it was. I glanced at my right arm. The scar from Zuko's burn had long faded away thanks to Katara's quick healing, but in the right light you could still see a slightly lighter skin tone. I had control over something that could cause that kind of damage.

The door suddenly creaked open behind me.

"GAH!" I screamed in shock. The flame flared up and reached the ceiling.

Before I could even start panicking a bucket of cold water was thrown on me and the flame.

"I thought I might need this."

I spun around to find King Bumi tossing aside a now empty bucket.

"Did you have to throw the water on me too? And why was it freezing cold?"

Either the King had gone deaf or he pretended not to hear me, because instead he just walked up and grabbed my left hand. Pulling it up to eye level, narrowed his eyes and studied it for a quick second before letting it drop back down.

I swear I would punch him if he wasn't an old man. And a king. And couldn't kick my butt all the way to Timbuktu.

"Well today was eventful now wasn't it," the King laughed. "I must admit you surprised me a few times."

"Is that good? Did I pass any of the tests?"

"Weeeellll…."

"Well what?"

"Well I'm not too sure, after you jumped out that window I had to throw some stuff together. Never really decided what the way was to win that last test."

"Wasn't it to save my friends? I saved Aang didn't I?"

"Yes, but you fainted before we could throw the two from the water tribe in for you to save."

Was he serious? Put more of my friends in harm's way?  
"I did not faint! I just…ran out of energy."

He smiled. "Is that true? Well you did punch a boulder in half for your friend. That shouldn't be possible for somebody who has never earthbended before and trained properly to gain an endurance to it. The energy loss was merely you body's response after the adrenaline passed.

Mind you I wouldn't try that again. You would most likely break you hand. What you did back there was partly ability, but also a burst of strength some get in moments of emergency. Had I made it look like your friends were in any more danger you would have gone into the avatar state. You still have a lot of training before you will be able to properly battle as a master using either of those elements. " Bumi started to look all thoughtful. "Now tell me avatar, why did I have to pretend to put your friend in danger to finally get you to fight back and even bend?"

I decided not to rant about the 'fake' danger he had put Aang in. It was just nice to know he hadn't been in any real danger.

"I couldn't bend before that!"

He looked me dead in the eyes.

"Did you try to? Did you really try?"

I stopped short. He was right, I hadn't tried. I'd just assumed that I couldn't bend anything. That stupid mad genius. This had been his plan all along.

"Ok, I get it, don't sell yourself short without even trying. There's just one thing. Why did I firebend? Aang's been teaching me airbending, so shouldn't that be what comes to me first?"

"Well, the elements that come the most easily to the avatar are usually the one's that match their personality the most. You are very loyal to those close to you and stubborn. You are even quite resistant to change. And don't think I didn't notice how you knew about events before they would happen. You need to be more willing to let things change and not rely too hard on your predictions."

I nodded, he was right. Just being the Avatar instead of Aang was already changing so much.

"You can also stand your ground."

That statement surprised me. I recalled my actions on Kyoshi island, where I had run and left Sokka to fight Zuko.

"I can? Since when, I was dodging your rocks, not standing my ground. I don't have the slightest ounce of bravery when it comes to fighting."

"Yes it would seem so, but when Aang was in danger you stood before him to block an oncoming boulder. That is your true nature. Over time you will train and standing your ground in a battle will come more naturally for you.

Now, after today I can see that firebending will come to you the most naturally. Earthbending will probably come more easily than air and water as well. You will have to work even harder to master the one that is your natural opposite, but it has been done a thousand times before. I have complete faith that you have the ability to once again."

I smiled, no longer mad at the crazy king. He made me feel like maybe, just maybe, I could pull this avatar thing off.

"Enough about bending! There's a certain someone whose been sitting outside your door ever since we brought you in. He was fast asleep when I finally came by. They told me he had refused to go back to his chamber until you woke up."

* * *

Yes, we finally have some more bending in there! No, Jessica will not be an awesome master of 3 elements from now on. She still has a long way to go. The reason she was able to do some of that was due to adrenaline. It is possible. One mother was able to lift of a car to free her kid who was pinned under it. So no, Jessica will not be punching giant boulders left and right in the near future.

But what did you think? I'd love to hear feedback on the bending.

Also, I have a very important question for my viewers. Is my character a Mary Sue? Tell me the truth. I'm not really sure what a Mary Sue is, so if someone could tell me that would help. I'm trying my best to make her a 3-dimensional character with multiple strengths and weaknesses. Feedback would be great on this.


	13. Giant Fluffy Panda Spirit not so fluffy

Well, hopefully I didn't make you wait too long for this one. Trying to be faster this summer.

P.S. Got a tumblr blog! Plan on posting artwork and sketches on it in the future. Might even do some fanart or sketches of Jessica if you guys really want me to. Or I could post chapter previews if you request it. If you have any ideas just let me know. I can't make any promises, but I will always listen to ideas given to me.

http:/ programmedthisway . tumblr . com /

* * *

I had asked King Bumi to teach me earthbending, but he said that we both knew that he was not meant for the job. Besides, we had to get to the North Pole. I disagreed, but apparently the avatar doesn't get to choose. All I got out of him was how to do a proper earthbending stance.

Haru and his dad had been more willing, so I spent a good week training with them. I refused to stay a day longer for fear of allowing Zuko to catch up to us and burn down yet another village. He really needed to stop doing that. Not a healthy habit for someone his age.

So now I could do little things. Lift up small baseball-sized rocks and punch them forward. It came a lot easier to me than airbending, but it also tired me out twice as fast. Bumi was right, I had yet to obtain the proper endurance and strength. My muscle build up would need a lot of work. As you may have figured out, I wasn't necessarily the buffest person around. Sure, I was scrawny as a twig, but I was just as weak as one to. Snapping me in half would not be hard.

Of course, firebending was still the easiest. Conjuring up a fireball took little effort. I used the stances and punching techniques from my self defense class and Suki's lessons. Most of it I couldn't remember, but I did know that a proper stance was the dominant foot back with the other foot 1 stride length in front of it. Additionally, the punching I'd learned from Suki seemed to work relatively well with firebending.

Despite all this, it was still obvious I needed proper teachers in both elements. Practicing and meditating with candles helped, but it was nowhere near a substitute. I could only teach myself so much. I needed someone to correct me and push me forward.

Because of that my main focus was still airbending. My progress was slow at times, frustrating even. But there were certain breakthroughs that let me know I was improving. That and the fact that Aang was a pretty good teacher.

* * *

"Hey Aang, what did the armadillo rhino say to the fire ferret? Aang! Aang what's wrong?"

Aang was staring in horror at the ground below them.

I peeked my head over the saddle to see what he was looking at.

"Oh my god…"

For most of the day we'd been flying over your average forest. You know, trees and whatnot. Up ahead I spotted what had stopped Aang. I'd seen it on the show of course, but it felt so much more real now. So much worse.

A few miles of the forest below had a thick charred scar cutting right through the middle, full of trees burnt black and void of any life.

When we landed in the Scar(that's what I had dubbed this burnt part of the forest) the first thing we noticed was how quiet it was.

There was no twittering of birds nor screeching of hogmonkeys nor even the low growling of the wolfbats. Nothing. Nothing but silence.

The ground was gray with ash that had settled over the soil and stained our shoes until they too had the color seeped from them.

And then there were the trees. Or lack of trees. All that remained were the charred, blackened remnants of the once sturdy and high reaching beings. They stuck out of the ground in stubs no higher than a human, looking as if someone had just randomly stabbed a bunch of scorched, lopsided toothpicks into the ground.

The air smelled of ash. Nothing else. No flower or tree scents. I stepped away from the group and walked up to the remains of a burnt tree, running my fingers across its black bark. It felt rough and flaky. Bits of charcoal chipped off and turned my palm black.

Momo nudged my leg before jumping up to my shoulder to join me as we watched Katara comfort Aang with an acorn. I absentmindedly petted the purring lemur's head, my mind struggling to take this in. When I had watched this on the show(it had been three or four years now since the show had ended actually) it hadn't meant much to me. Now, standing here in the middle of it I felt how real it was. This place was no longer a made up cartoon world that I read fanfictions about. It was a world that had real living people that needed to be protected and saved. It also had cruel and ruthless people that needed to be stopped.

And it was now my job to do so.

What was happening to me now was far from fantasy. I lightly touched my arm where a scar would be if not for Katara. My jacket with the burned in hole was long gone, ruined after Bumi's tests. Now it was just my tanktop, tattered jeans, and sneakers.

"Hey Jessica, you doing ok?" Katara asked as she walked over to me.

I could see Aang smiling lightly while fingering the acorn placed in his hand. Katara was probably planning to use the acorn bit on me as well.

"Just dandy," I bent down and picked up some acorns. "Good point with the acorns by the way. You're pretty wise for your age."

It's true. Katara was about two years younger than me, and yet she was the one who was best at keeping the group together and comforting others. I was terrible at comforting others. Too awkward.

"You knew what I was going to say?"

I nodded and grinned. "I can also tell you an old man is going to walk up to us and ask for my help."

Katara turned around and gasped when an old man in greenish tattered clothing walked up to them. He carried a gnarled wooden cane and had long white hair and a beard, though the top of his head was bald.

"It's still a bit creepy how you do that," she muttered before going back to Aang.

Sokka, who was still rubbing his head from being pelted with an acorn, noticed the man and stood up, asking him who he was. Knowing him, Sokka thought he was a Fire Nation spy or something.

The teenager told him to identify himself, but the old man just glanced at the bison then back at us.

"When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible. But…are you the avatar child?"

He pointed to Aang. The bald kid shook his head and held up his hands.

"Nope sorry. I'm just her airbending teacher."

The man looked slightly confused. "Her? I had no idea the avatar was a she." He turned to Katara. "My apologies young avatar."

I pushed a flattered Katara out of the way.

"Yeah, no. I'm the avatar."

Why did he look slightly disappointed when I said that?

* * *

The old man led us into his small walled village. All around I saw husks of what used to be people's homes. Many of them were now nothing more than the wooden beams of the foundation barely standing. We were taken to the center of town, where the younger leader desperate for my help told us about Hei Bei. He clarified about the approaching winter solstice and how as we drew closer to it the lines between our world and the spirit world drew closer and closer until the lines blurred completely.

In other words, I would finally get the chance to talk to Roku and figure out how the heck I got here. Maybe I could even find a way home. Good bye crappy food and outdoor bathrooms…hello cheeseburgers and indoor plumbing! And hot showers. I would literally sell my soul for one of those.

As the man continued his boring explanation a circle of floating desserts danced through my vision. Katara nudged my arm and told me to stop drooling.

"Once the solstice is here, there is no telling what Hei Bei will do to this village," the leader said.

"As the avatar, you are the great bridge between man and spirit," explained the old man. "Who better to fix a problem involving the spirit than you?"

Sokka snickered. "I could think of a few hundred people."

I elbowed Sokka in the ribs.

"Ow! What? You're more likely to get in a fight than stop one. I've been flying with you on a bison for a while now and let me say that you are not a peaceful person. Whenever you get bored you poke me until I get angry and try to push you off Appa."

"You actually did push me off once remember? You did it to _help _me learn how to use the glider."

"And you learned didn't you? I'm surprised you haven't thanked me for that yet."

"You know what, next time I'll push _you_ off with that glider and see what happens!"

A loud cough came from Katara, signaling us to stop our tomfoolery. I froze, my hands in a choke hold around Sokka's neck, and turned my head to face the two men asking for my help. They were staring dumbfounded at the avatar they had to rely on.

"No worries! I'll do my bridge duties and make friends with the giant fluffy spirit panda," I said, offering them an innocent smile as I let Sokka drop to the ground. "Hey, I like the sound of that," I threw my hands in the air. "Giant Fluffy Spirit Panda! I ask you to leave this village alone and pledge your almighty powers of panda cuteness to your avatar! Yeah, no worries. I've got this one in the bag."

The two did not look too assured, in fact they looked more worried. I wasn't though. I knew Hei Bei was friendly deep down and how Aang had tamed him last time. We would get this done in one night and get a head start on that magic Fire Nation avatar temple thingy. Yes that's what it is called. Who are you to question the intelligence of the avatar?

Honestly, that temple and the possibility of finally getting some answers as to how I got here was all that filled my mind as we waited for night to fall. We had all day to wait, so Aang reviewed some core airbending poses with me to pass the afternoon. We even sparred a bit, something we'd taken a habit to doing so that I would be more prepared in battle. While fighting Bumi I had choked and forgotten what he'd taught me. It was obvious that I had to work on that. Keeping a clear head in battle would mean the difference between escape and capture. Life and death. Honestly, dying was not on my list of things to do any time soon.

So we sparred. Until I showed more improvement and knowledge of basic poses, stances, and formations we did no actual airbending during the sparring. Our early attempts had revealed that I resorted to simple air blasts and failed to focus on the martial arts. Doing just the movements was a lot harder for me. It involved moving in a circle and constantly spinning back and forth to avoid your opponent. When Aang sparred he never stopped moving, making it impossible for me to get a solid hold on him. I hate to sound cliché but that little baldy could move like the wind.

Obviously Aang would win every time we sparred, but each time he would point out my mistakes and go through the motions with me to fix them. He complimented me when I managed to get something right and demonstrated the moves he was using and why they were the ones to use. It was during the sparring today, as he patiently explained some spinning hand motions, that I recognized how amazing he was for a twelve you old. He had been the avatar on the show, but even without being an avatar he was still so intelligent and skilled. I realized that he was what we would call a child prodigy back home.

I swear I needed to adopt this kid as my little brother just so I could brag about his skills to people like some proud older sister.

After training some nice citizens provided us with some sour dough bread and cabbage soup. The old Jessica that was picky and hated vegetables would have never touched the funky smelling liquid, but now I was just happy to have a meal that actually left me with a full stomach. Funny how hunger can change one's taste buds.

Right before darkness fell on the village a worried Katara pulled me aside.

"You seem pretty confident Jessica, are you sure everything will be alright? I don't recall you ever talking about fighting spirits," she tilted her head questioningly. "Have you already met one before?"

"Uh, no. But I have a plan! A brilliant foolproof plan better than Trojan Rabbits!"

I dropped my handful of acorns into the young waterbender's hand. She looked at me like I'd just grown chicken wings.

"Um, acorns? Forgive me if I fail to see the genius here."

"I'm just going to do what you did to Aang. Hei Bei is just angry over the forest being burnt, so I have to comfort him and let him know it will grow back thanks to those acorns."

Katara nodded and grinned.

"So basically I'm the brilliant one in your plan?"

I started to protest. "No-ah-yeah, I guess I'll give you credit for this one."

By now darkness had come and I made my way outside. Sokka had protested, insisting it wasn't fair to send me out there alone. Normally I would agree, but this was going to be a piece of cake. I told Aang to make sure boomerang boy didn't come out and try to help. The last thing I needed was him being kidnapped into the spirit world again. Well not _again_ because it technically never happened, but you get the point.

A crackle of branches came from the trees just outside the village. Silence fell and my mouth dropped open as I watched a spirit larger than my house appear at the entrance. The black and white creature with four arms and two legs smashed his fist into the nearest building like he was knocking down a house of cards. My confidence started to fizzle away and panic took root. Hei Bei looked furious.

"It's okay, you've got this. You have a plan," I told myself, trying my best to calm down and NOT panic.

I ran before Hei Bei just as he was about to smash down another structure.

"WAIT!" I shouted.

To my surprise he actually stopped moving and tilted his head down at me. I reached into my pocket for the acorns, ready to finish this.

The acorns weren't there.

"Ok now it's time to panic," I said just before he roared in my face and smacked me away with the back of his hand.

Somebody shouted my name as I hit the ground. Spitting dirt out of my mouth I stood up to find Katara running to me with her fist waving in the air. Of course! I'd accidentally given the acorns to her when I was explaining my plan. How could I have been so stupid?

"Katara don't! Get back inside right now!"

Too late. Hei Bei turned from smashing a building to the young waterbender the second I called her name. In seconds, he snatched her up and made a beeline for the woods.

No no no no NO! This was not supposed to happen! I ran after him, popped open my glider, and leaped into the air. The wings didn't catch flight and I crashed back to the ground, still able to hear Katara desperately calling my name in the background.

"Now is not the time!" I shouted at my glider. I ran for it again, only this time I ran up Appa's tail, over the saddle, and jumped off his head. Miraculously I managed to stay airborne and pursue the spirit. The woods were dense for me to navigate, since I still had a hard time steering through anything, so I tilted the glider up and flew over the forest. Luckily a harsh wind pushed me over the forest at a high speed. Sure, I was terrified and felt like puking from the midair summersaults it had me doing, but at least I was able to keep up with the screams coming from the forest below me.

And now the screams were behind me. I was going too fast! Next thing I knew I was soaring over the burnt tree stumps, I had to turn around. But before I did something caught my eye. It was the totem pole, the one Hei Bei used to cross back to the spirit world. If I could just beat him to it I still had a chance.

Of course, the panda spirit chose that exact moment to come bounding out of the woods towards the totem. It was easy to see the blue figure in his hand even from above. Not willing to let it end this way I pulled down of the head of my flying contraption and dove down. The ground quickly rushed up to greet me.

"Too fast too fast TOO FAST!"

My whole upper body pushed upwards to stabilize my glider, but just as I did so I looked up to see Hei Bei's face right before he hit me and rammed us all into the totem pole.

* * *

As soon as the spirit grabbed Katara, Aang and Sokka had sprung into action. The airbender had taken to his glider and flown through the forest after Hei Bei, dodging the branches like an expert to catch up to Katara's screams for help.

Well, they weren't exactly screams for help. From what the monk heard it went more along the lines of "Jessica if I get out of this I'm throwing your precious acorns at your stupid head! Get over here and save me right now!"

Unfortunately, the spirit had a head start and Aang could only hope Jessica was faring better at the rescue attempt. Finally he broke through the trees into what he recognized as the burnt section of the forest. Up ahead he could see Hei Bei running and Jessica diving head first to the ground.

Jessica diving head first to the ground?

Aang watched in horror as she fell like a rock, knowing he would never be able to reach her in time to help.

_Come on Jessica, come on. Pull up! _ he willed silently. A sigh a relief escaped his lungs as he watched her do just that. Then horror again as he realized she wasn't doing it fast enough. It was when he saw her crash into Hei Bei's head and all three of them disappeared into thin air two seconds later that he felt like having a panic attack.

He flew up to the totem pole where they had disappeared and landed before it. His mental gears spun wildly as he struggled to figure out what had just happened. Two of his best friends had just been kidnapped by a spirit and disappeared.

_He must have taken them to the spirit world_. The twelve year old walked up to the wooden totem and pressed his hand against it. Nothing happened. Hoping that there was a way to go after them he circled the pole. He even airbended himself up to the panda's head at the top and pressed his hand up against that.

Nothing. There was nothing he could do.

Sokka came running across the ash covered ground not long later to find the airbender slumped against the totem.

"What happened? Where's my sister?" he asked desperately, his eyes searching the surrounding area for another sign of life.

"She was taken to the spirit world. They both were."

* * *

Aang and Sokka had no choice but to wait. The two refused to go back to the village until they spotted their friends.

Hours passed and night faded to morning, the sunlight shining upon two boys sprawled on the ground, the blue one snoring loudly. The old man brought them breakfast, urging them to wait at the village. They would not come.

It wasn't until after lunch, when Aang was airbending some marbles halfheartedly and Sokka was kicking up piles of ash, that something happened. Actually this something was a pretty big thing.

People started walking out of the totem. One by one they the stepped into the real world, dazed and filled with hunger and the need to go to the bathroom. Sokka rushed over to Aang and asked him what was going on.

"I'm not sure," he answered, watching them head towards the village. Some ran excitedly while others just walked and chatted with those next to them about their experiences.

"I think those are the people Hei Bei took from the village. Jessica must have solved the problem!" the airbender realized excitedly.

"So where are they? Where's Katara?"

Sokka searched the growing crowd of people, but no one dressed in blue popped out at him. Aang put a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Don't worry, knowing them they are just making sure that everyone is getting through safely."

The teenager nodded in agreement. That did sound like something his sister would do, so he patiently waited as the villagers trickled out of the spirit world one at a time. Minutes later a tall man in ratty clothing obviously made for someone shorter than him walked out.

And was followed by no one.

The boys immediately noticed and waited excitedly, but thirty seconds passed and no one else came. Sokka rushed up to the tall man and roughly grabbed his arm.

"Hey! Where are they? My sister and the avatar, the girl that wears only blue and the one that talks like a crazy person, where are they?" he practically shouted, worry swelling up inside him.

The man shrugged and pulled away his arm. "They sound familiar, but I really don't remember anything. Sorry kid."

Eager to return to his wife the man quickly walked off to catch up with the others.

Aang and Sokka exchanged looks, at a loss for words.

"AAAAHHHH!"

The two spun around just in time to watch a screaming Jessica come flying out of the totem pole. She crashed ungracefully into a pile of ashes with a loud 'oof!' But instead of sitting up and laughing it off Jessica sprang up and ran right back to the wooden pole. Rather than going back to the spirit world she hit the wood full force and hit the floor again. By now she was covered in ashes and looked quite the sorry mess. The ashes stuck to her wet hair, skin, and clothes, turning into a gray paste.

Sokka darted over to her.

"Where is she? Where is my sister?" he asked frantically.

Jessica looked up at him with guilt ridden eyes, but then chose to stare at the ground in shame instead.

"She's stuck in the spirit world."

* * *

Reviews make the world go round people! And will help free a poor waterbender stuck in the spirit world. Do it for the children!(not really sure where I'm going this...)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and would really appreciate any reviews. You have no idea how happy they make me or how much they motivate me to write faster. Just let me know what you think!


	14. Since When Does It Go According to Plan?

Looks like summer kept me a lot busier than I though, sorry guys! The good news is I have a lot planned for the rest of Season 1 that I can't wait to get to.

Thank you for the amazing reviews, they make me so happy. I really want this story to be good and for there to be interesting relationships and character development. Some of my past fanfictions had the problem of characters that felt flat at times. I'm trying my best to make Jessica her own unique character rather than a generic one.

* * *

"You lost my sister in the spirit world?!" Sokka shouted, half hysterical.

Jessica flinched. How did she always manage to mess things up? But this time. This time was different. And there was no way for her to explain this to him in a way that wouldn't make him hate her more.

"I didn't lose her exactly," Jessica said. Searching for the right words she made a grabbing motion with her two hands. "Something else _took_ her."

The young avatar stood up and attempted to wipe some of the ashy goop off her face and clothes. Aang sent her a blast of air to help. It did the job, but also left her hair looking like a miniature afro. Not even wanting to bother with hair at a time like this Jessica just gave up and squished it all into a ponytail.

"Something took her? How could you let something take Katara? You're supposed to be the avatar!"

Jessica clenched her fists. She was angry that all this was happening to her. She was furious that she had let all this happen.

"I'm doing the best I can ok? I did everything I was supposed to do! I talked to Hei Bei and got all the villagers back into the real world. I had Katara too until some spirit _thing _just ran up and grabbed her. I tried to go after it but it just knocked me right out of the spirit world! I did what I was supposed to but something bad happened anyway."

Everything she said was the truth, but like any terrible movie it had a few plotholes.

"No, this is your fault! You left those stupid acorns with Katara. If you had just taken this seriously from the beginning she would never have been taken by Hei Bei to begin with!"

Aang stepped up to the shouting teenager, placing a hand on his shoulder. This had to stop, Jessica looked like she was on the verge of breaking down.

"Fighting is not the answer here. Fighting will not rescue Katara from the spirit world," pointed out the young airbender.

Sokka started to calm down a bit, though the worried creases dominating his facial features refused to leave.

"Then what should we do Aang? Our so called _avatar_ can't even get back into the spirit world!"

Both boys turned to Jessica expectantly. Aang was sincerely hoping she had a plan. His face didn't show it, but he was desperately worried about Katara. The only reason he stayed calm was because Sokka was worrying enough for all three of them. Aang knew he needed to get them through this.

"There's only one way I know of to get back into the spirit world," she said. "There's just one little complication."

"What is it?"

"We have to go to the Fire Nation."

* * *

The three of them left right away, for it was a long journey to the Fire Nation and the solstice was only tomorrow. It was mid afternoon when they took off from the village. The people there had been so grateful for the avatar's help that they had put together a large package of food and even some odd clothing items. Jessica took a long sleeve top which was originally meant for a grown man and threw it on, not even bothering to tie it at the waist but choosing rather to let it hang like an unzipped jacket. All she'd had lately was her tank top and considering the fact that it was winter the oversized makeshift coat was nice to have.

The ride to the Fire Nation was a long one. Hours passed by slowly as the three sat mostly in silence. Aang placed himself upon Appa's head and focused on leading his bison so as to avoid the awkward silence, while Sokka anxiously paced the saddle and sharpened his boomerang. The apprehension in his features was evident and he made no effort to hide it. Meanwhile, Jessica was sitting crosslegged at the edge of Appa's saddle, eyes fixated the ocean with a calculating gaze.

"There will be a blockade."

Aang snapped to attention at the sudden emission of speech. The avatar hadn't spoken since leaving the village. Even Sokka put down his sharpened boomerang to listen.

"What about a blockade?"

"When we reach the borders of the Fire Nation there will be a blockade of ships lined up for miles. And Zuko will come after us as well," she explained, opening her palm. A small flame flared up and she held it at eye level. The lights danced on her face as she stared at it, deep in thought. Then she added. "The temple will have no guards, just the Fire Sages. There will be five, maybe seven. I can't remember the details too well. The sages will be loyal to the Fire Lord, not me. Except for one."

Jessica took a deep breath and watched the fire shrink down to the size of a candle flame, then exhaled. It grew and started to flare up a bit too high when she suddenly clenched the hand into a fist and extinguished it immediately. Control was harder than it looked. Control over power. Control over a situation.

"I think I have a plan," she finally stated.

Aang seemed happy to hear this. Unfortunately, Sokka was not so accepting.

"And why should we follow a plan from you? Look where your last plan got us! My sister is trapped in another world which is home to all the powerful spirits that could squash her like a bug!"

The wind around Sokka started blow harder than before.

"Look, I know I made a mistake ok? A big one. I wasn't taking the avatar thing seriously and because of that Katara was put in danger. It's entirely my fault and I take full responsibility for my actions," Jessica said, her arms wide open in confession. "But now I'm going to do whatever it takes to fix this. I will get Katara back safely no matter what. Now, I know more about where we're going so therefore I have the plan. You _will_ follow it and you will _not _contradict me if you want your sister back. Understood?"

Sokka nodded and the winds slowly died down to normal levels, not that Jessica had noticed any changes.

"Good. So getting past the sages no longer loyal to me isn't the problem. The real problem is that the room where I meet Roku in the spirit world and get back Katara can only be opened by five simultaneous fire blasts. Long story short, we're going to need those guards to open it for us."

Aang jumped off Appa's head and gently floated down into a seated position next to Sokka.

"How do you plan to do that? Are you going to make them loyal to the avatar again?"

She shook her head, knowing that wasn't going to happen. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember how Aang had succeeded in befriending that one sage on the show. It had been a long time and this wasn't one of the episodes she had rewatched a million times over.

"Not exactly. But if a powerful avatar with power over three elements confronted them, they might be a little more likely to oblige."

The water tribe soldier started to wave his hands in the air. "Are you crazy?! You're not even close to mastering airbender! You can't properly firebend and earthbending a couple big rocks exhausts you almost immediately!" Sokka practically shouted. He made an earthbending motion and fell back in an overdramatic faint.

"Thanks for the reminder Soh-ka, I'm quite aware of my lack of bending abilities. But the Fire Sages are not."

Sokka sat back up to full attention, a grin growing on his face. "So we bluff? Risky, but it could work. We would just have to make it convincing."

* * *

_Well, that was easy_, thought Jessica to herself as her glider dipped below the layer of clouds for a few short seconds to watch the Fire Nation blockade fade away into the distance.

The young avatar allowed herself a smile for the small victory before flying back up to Appa.

"They don't seem to have noticed the fact that the avatar passed over them into Fire Nation territory," Jessica informed the two boys.

It was then that she figured out she had no idea how to land on a moving surface and needed Aang to coach her on what to do. Despite his helpful advice, Jessica still ended up crashing into a pile of water tribe sleeping bags. Sokka jumped up and caught one bag to the chest before it had the chance to fly off the saddle.

"This is good," Sokka remarked, plopping the rolled sleeping bag down beside him and leaning his elbow on it. "Now they won't follow us to the temple. Unless that prince catches up and leads them there then all we'll have to worry about is the Fire Sages."

Jessica nodded, glad that a little luck had finally come their way. She had forgotten that they had left earlier and therefore it was still night time while they made their way to temple. With the darkness of the night and the generous cloud cover they had been able to pass over the blockade undetected. And if she remembered correctly Zuko wouldn't reach the village until morning, which bought them even more time before Zhao came after them.

_Funny how a time difference could change the course of events in a scenario. _

Jessica found it a bit unnerving not knowing what might happen though. Her foresight was really the only strength she had. Without it she was just a girl with the title of 'avatar' who had yet to master any elements. Or win a real fight for that matter.

In the end, Jessica was forced to accept this fact and mull over her return to the spirit world as Appa drifted closer to the temple.

* * *

It was still dark when the three of us finally arrived at the temple, though a promise of coming dawn lingered in the distance just below the horizon. We were pretty sure that no Fire Navy ships had followed us, so it was only natural that I thought luck was finally on my side as we walked cautiously towards the temple.

And we all know how the universe just loves to prove me wrong.

We arrived at the entrance to the temple only to find it locked. You heard me. Locked!

"Are you serious?! What kind of temple locks its doors at night?" I shouted at the door before Sokka slapped a hand over my mouth and warned me to quiet down. Nobody knew we were here yet and he wanted to keep it that way.

"The Fire Nation is extremely secure. They have probably considered the fact that the avatar might try to pay this place a visit and keep it locked at night. I bet a few Sages might even be awake on watch at this time," he noted out loud as he analyzed the situation.

His eyes skimmed the large metal door but even I could tell there was no way for us to get past it. Not unless Toph made a sudden appearance and learned metalbending in the next 24 hours. I checked behind me for the blind midget just in case. No such luck.

I switched my thoughts to this particular episode. I honestly remembered it only vaguely, but I was able to recall that after Aang had spoken to Roku, Roku had taken over his body and destroyed the temple. The gang had gotten away thanks to Appa flying up to their floor and whisking them away.

"The room I need to go in is on a higher floor," I whispered. "There might be a window or something we could break into."

Sokka nodded and Aang lead us back to the poor tired bison. I tugged desperately at one of its massive paws, begging him to get up, but the grumpy giant fluffball gave a loud groan and refused to perform any physical exertion. He then lay his head down and promptly fell asleep. Momo chose this opportune moment to land on my head and tug at both my ears.

"The world hates me," I muttered dryly, trying to pry the winged lemur off my hair.

It was when he started chewing on my hair that my pent up anger took over and both my fists flared up in yellow flames. Aang quickly stepped in and plucked Momo off with ease. Unable to extinguish the flames myself I shot them at a random rock instead. Then I pulled the oversized shirt from the village off and stomped on the sleeves until those too were no longer on fire.

I didn't like long sleeves anyway.

"Flying a giant bison around the temple might not be the best idea anyhow," conceded Sokka. "It would be less noticeable if a couple of humans flew around for a reconnaissance instead."

So Aang and I flew covertly around the building, peeking in through any openings or glass windows we happened to find. The master airbender committed the task with ease, whereas I struggled to stay upright and not hit the building. I tried to avoid all thoughts about how likely it was that a Fire Sage would look out the window a see the avatar doing uncontrolled loop de loops around the temple.

And yet it was I who spotted the chamber after my body almost smashed into the glass of one particular window just a few minutes later. The window was a long rectangle big enough for one or two people to jump through. After being informed, Aang swooped back down to retrieve Sokka.

"It looks like we're going to need some earthbending to break through this glass. We just have to be ready to move quickly because the sound will announce to the whole temple that they have a special visitor," warned Sokka.

I nodded, hoping I looked a heck of a lot more confident than I felt. After all, I was breaking into a temple that held people who wanted to capture and imprison me for life. What could go wrong?

Well…everything actually.

It had before. Just yesterday to be exact.

Landing on one of the multiple roofs jutting out from the temple below the window, I searched the ground far below for a good sized rock.

"Make sure it's big enough," said Sokka. "This window has reinforcements splitting it into eight smaller squares we could never fit through. You are going to have to break through that as well. And we can't afford you to make multiple attempts with different sized rocks because we all know how weak you are when it comes to earthbending."

At this moment I wanted to break through his skull more than the window. His know-it-all advice was making it really hard to concentrate.

"No problem I'll just find one the size of your big fat head."

"Actually you might need one a bit bigger than th—HEY!"

Honestly, he probably had more to say after that but I never heard it. The only loose rock to be seen was a black volcanic boulder the size of a shopping cart. This would be my first time lifting a rock that big.

I tried my best to put to good use the little Haru was able to teach me. Take a strong stance and use your core, don't put all the pressure solely on the arms. Concentrate and breath strong deep breadths.

By the time I managed to get it over my head and ten feet before the window my arms were screaming. Beads of sweat cascaded down my forehead.

I did a right hook jab that I learned from Suki and smashed the heavy mass right into the window, causing the glass to merely crack.

"Are you serious?! You can do better than that you stupid pebble," I grunted.

We were running out of time. It was very unlikely that the Fire Sages weren't going to hear a rock smashing glass. Not unless they had recently all become deaf. Well, a girl can hope.

My body returned to its original stance, at the same time the rock backed up, and I let loose another right hook. Only this time I didn't stop to see my progress, I did a continuous series of jabs. Each jab was quick and was used with full force. At some point I wasn't even looking at the rock anymore, I was too focused on the doing the right hooks while ignoring the fatigue that was quickly overtaking my muscles.

"Jessica. Jessica!"

I stopped to look up at the two mid jab, still in my stance.

"The window is broken, you can stop now," Aang said, bobbing up and down in the air with Sokka's extra weight.

My arms dropped to my side like limp noodles and the stone crashed onto my bit of a roof a little too close for comfort, lodging itself securely into the red tiles. I would have been worried about the noise it created, but after the window breaking I really doubted it would make a difference.

"You first Sokka," stated the twelve year old, and unable to take the extra weight any longer he tossed the teenager through the broken window before soaring in after him. I hopped on my glider and rushed to meet them inside.

The room was massive, larger than a mall back home probably and just as tall. Thick red columns stood imposingly with golden dragons curved around them in midflight. I had never felt smaller. The time and effort it took to make this in honor of one man made me realize just how amazing Roku must have been during his time.

And just how much I had to live up to.

_As if I could ever accomplish anything that would earn me a temple like this_, I thought derogatively to myself. _Especially after the way I handled things yesterday._

"Hey avatar, bridge to the spirit world that plans on rescuing my sister, stop admiring the architecture and get your butt in gear."

Sokka was back to not completely trusting my capability to save his sister. Understandable since I had gotten her stuck in the spirit world in the first place, but his chiding was not doing anything for my nerves.

In the less than two minutes that we had unceremoniously entered the temple, the warrior had already managed to place the sealskin bags of explosive powder he'd prepared back on Appa into each of the golden ruby eyed dragons' mouths. The Fire Sages had yet to show, but it we probably had only another minute or so until they showed up. Our plan wasn't really even following the original plan anymore.

I ran to the side of the door and brought both fists forward to light the explosives. The fire was meant to be narrow and focused only on the bags, but lack of experience and knowledge on firebending itself resulted in a chaotic blast with no real target or path.

The fire managed to light three out of five bags and generate the noise and effect necessary to convince the guards. I quickly blew up the last two bags at the other end of the door and joined Aang in his hiding spot behind a column. Sure enough the Fire Sages appeared a few seconds later, remarked on the burn marks at the door, and shot fire into the golden dragon jaws to open the door. Not giving them the opportunity to see the empty chamber, Aang and I ran forward and simultaneously swung our arms diagonally, combining our airbending into a wind current strong enough to knock the sages away from the door onto their butts.

"The avatar, do not let her get in!" I could hear one of them shouting as I made a beeline for the closing doors.

But the doors were shutting too rapidly, and one of the Fire Sages was already on his feet, ready to attack. I was ready to give up hope when a gust of wind sent me flying, rushing me full speed right through the doors to land ungracefully on the other side.

Into water.

My mouth opened in surprise and swallowed a nasty mouthful. I quickly stood up and spit it out, dearly hoping I wasn't going to feel sick from that later.

"Well, I'm back," I mumbled to myself as I trudged through the shallow swamp water in god knows what part of the spirit world. Honestly, getting back here had been a lot easier than I thought. I just hoped my body was doing ok back in the real world.

There were just a few problems. Where was Roku? Where was Katara? WHERE WAS I?

The swamp looked familiar to where I'd entered the spirit world yesterday, but only in the fact that it was a swamp. A vast place like the spirit world could have an infinite number of foggy swamps.

"KATARA! Katara if you're here then shout angrily at me!" I yelled through the trees, which looked as old as the spirit world itself with their impossibly thick trunks, copious branches, and infinite amounts of mossy growth coating their bark. Not to mention how tall they were. Their height was actually hard to describe because when I looked straight up the trees rose so high that eventually they blended together with the fog and sky.

So I wandered around a bit, stepping out of the muddy waters and choosing instead to hop along the bulky tree roots that littered the landscape, when suddenly a familiar voice cut through the dense fog. My eyes darted back and forth to find the source of the noise. I refused to believe what I had heard. Squinting, I tried to see through the fog.

There she was. I had spent the past day convincing myself otherwise, but the second I laid eyes upon her all that was forgotten.

"Mom?"

* * *

I say this at the end of every chapter and I will continue to do so, please review!

I had originally planned to finished this arc in just one chapter, but it became a lot more elaborate than originally planned. I felt guilty making you all wait this much, so I just split it in two instead.


	15. Unwanted Responsibilities

100 reviews! WOOHOO! Thank you everyone who took the time to tell me your thoughts about this story. I read every single one and they all made me happy. I appreciate constructive criticisms and compliments of any kind! Love you guys:) I'm thankful for each and every person who is reading this.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have been having a crazy semester with tons of programming homework. I've been learning about how computers work, binary code, processors, and discrete structures in math. Hopefully all those big terms will help you understand just how swamped I have been. I did not pick an easy major, but I am happy with it. Still, time for writing fanfiction is usually left to zero. But I finally managed to get this one done!

I had an anonymous reviewer who thought I had stopped writing and asked me to write more. I am flattered by your review and I hope that my school hiatuses are not sending the wrong message. I do care about this story, but I have very little time for it during school semesters. I promise that I will not stop writing this story without telling you. So if it has been a while since a post then it does not mean I have given up on this story unless I have said so. Thank you and enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Jessica had been ripped out of her life without warning. The last memory was going to bed on the night before her birthday. No goodbyes were said. No apologies were given. All she had were the regrets of a person with unfinished business.

So the second she spotted her mother standing there Jessica did what any teenage girl who dearly missed her parents would do. She splashed through the swamp and ran straight into her mother's arms.

"Iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou I'm so sorry for every mean thing I ever said to you or complained about I'm so sorry thank you for everything I love you…" Jessica rambled on into her mother's jacket, not caring whether she was actually audible.

It was her, it had to be. It smelled liked her. Her dark brown jacket smelled like the black coffee she drank every morning before dashing off to work, her frazzled brown hair always billowing behind her. The two of them were thick haired brunettes who always managed to run out at the last minute after having lost track of time in the morning.

Jessica hugged her tighter, afraid that her mother would disappear if she didn't. She hadn't realized how much she missed her parents until now.

"Where's dad?" she lifted her face to look up at her mom.

"He's waiting for us back home."

Hope swelled within her and threatened to float her away like a helium balloon into the foggy skies.

"We're going home?"

"If that's what you want."

Jessica's head bobbed up and down vigorously. Thoughts of the life she had been taken from filled her mind from going to the movies with her friends to sharing a quick bowl of oatmeal with her mother in the morning to hiding out in the art classroom during pep rallies at her school.

Her mother stepped out of the embrace and motioned for Jessica to follow. She was about to run after her when a new voice suddenly erupted from the mist.

"Enough!" it rumbled, accompanied by a tornado of flames aimed directly for the mother.

A horrified scream escaped Jessica's lips as she watched the fire engulf her mother only ten feet ahead of her. She just stood there stunned as the smoke cleared. But rather than seeing a burned corpse in the water as expected, a silvery figure stood in its place. It had the proportions of a tall human, but no definable features. No face or hair, not even a bellybutton or wrinkles of any kind. All it had was a shiny watery like skin that looked like a liquid layer constantly moving over the body.

The figure melted down into a realistic fox and ran off, disappearing into the fog of the swamp. Jessica was ready to chase after it, ask it what the heck had just happened, when Roku stepped in her way.

"Well it's about time! Where have you been? And for the love of sanity, WHY WAS A FOX DRESSED LIKE MY MOTHER?!" Jessica screamed at his face, going from sad to furious in seconds.

Roku's spirit remained calm, despite the blatant disrespect she was showing him.

"He is known as Kumiho, a fox spirit. His other form, which you saw, is a mirror that reflects one's inner desires. Using that form he tricks humans into following him into the spirit world, where they will wander with him until nothing remains but their damaged souls," Roku looked down at her seriously and cautioned. "You must take care never to follow him, or you too will forget reality and follow Kumiho, forever clinging to a false hope."

Jessica fists clenched as she was told that her mother's appearance had been a lie.

"I want to go _home_ Roku. Just please-" the young avatar's voice cracked. "Send me home. You can do that can't you?"

The old spirit shook his head sadly.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR! Why am I even here anway? I don't belong in this world. And I'm definitely not supposed to be the one to protect it!"

Roku's voice became stern. "You cannot run away from this Jessica. You are the avatar and you must save this world from the tyranny of the Fire Lord, or the balance will be lost. Accept your fate."

Unfortunately, that was not what she wanted to hear. "Maybe I don't want to accept my fate! I never believed in destiny anyway. Just open up some magic portal and let me go back to my world where the fate of an entire planet doesn't rest on my shoulders!" she shouted.

"You can never go back to that world. Stop fighting this and work on mastering the four elements. You only have two summers until Sozin's comet arrives and the Fire Lord uses its power to end the war."

Jessica started to back away. She couldn't do this. She just couldn't. A teenage girl raised on the idea of college being her biggest upcoming challenge could not be expected to end a war.

"How do you know I can never go back? What could you possibly know about where I come from?" she implored, desperate to contradict him. To find a reason not to believe him.

Roku's eyes grew sad and he sighed deeply.

"I know nothing about where you come from, and I'm afraid I cannot yet tell you why you can never go back."

He put up his hand to stop Jessica from yelling at him again. They both knew what she had to say and they both knew she wasn't getting any answers.

"This is a lot to ask of you. I know that and I am sorry, but the world needs you," Roku paused, but Jessica had nothing more to say. All hopes of returning home had withered away. "We are almost out of time. I found your friend wandering the spirit world with Kumiho, you will see her upon returning to the real world. She is fine and won't remember anything that happened in the spirit world, but you must be careful never to bring people in here yourself. And _never_ leave them here alone if you do, or they could be lost from your world forever.

"Now, I will help you escape the temple, but that is all I can do for you. Remember to learn to rely on your own strength and not that of the avatar state."

Jessica reached out, her mouth open and about to ask him to wait. There were too many questions that still needed to be answered. He couldn't just toss the responsibility of the world on her shoulders and then leave her like this.

But before Jessica's pleas even had a chance to reach her tongue Avatar Roku's form dissolved into the mists and her vision went white.

* * *

"Jessica…Jessica…Wake up! The temple is falling apart!"

Jessica's eyes snapped open and her ears were instantly overcome by the crash of the marble pillar no more than twenty feet in front of her. The golden head of one of the dragons wrapped around it flew off and clattered the floor before her face.

"Sweet jesus!" Jessica flew to her feet and stumbled back into Aang, causing the two to both tumble down in a heap. "Oh hey Aang, what did I miss?"

"Well you turned into Avatar Roku and destroyed the temple. Which we are still in. And which we will die in if we don't leave now."

"That does seem to be a likely outcome."

A crack sounded above their heads. Aang grabbed Jessica by the waist and thrust his hand forward, sending them back with a gust of airbending as part of the ceiling crashed down where they had just been sitting. There was no time to waste. Shaking away the fogginess Jessica clambered back up from the ground. She seized the twelve year old's wrist as she did so and pulled him alongside her.

She refused to let go as they darted quickly through the falling debris, not wanting to get separated. Right when she was going to ask about the water tribe siblings Jessica just barely heard Sokka's voice cut through the thundering crashes. The two followed it and finally found themselves at a gaping hole in the wall of the temple with a flying bison floating just under them.

"I'm guessing I did this?" asked the avatar as she finally let go of Aang and hopped onto Appa.

"Yup, you nearly killed all of us in the process too. But I'll admit that it was pretty cool,"Sokka handed the reigns over to Aang and joined Katara in the saddle. She was just waking up, which meant that he must have carried her through the temple cave-in all by himself.

Jessica couldn't help but smile as she watched the two hug in reunion. Sokka asked her to tell him everything, but as Roku had foretold Katara was unable to remember the spirit world. It was a huge relief, for Jessica had no desire to share the events that had occurred in that place. They did not need to find out how willingly she had almost left. Ever. It would be better if it was all just forgotten.

* * *

Aang spared no time in steering Appa back over the ocean in the direction of the Earth Kingdom.

"Hop to it Appa," said Jessica as she reached over the saddle and patted his fur encouragingly. "The sooner we leave the Fire Nation the better. I'd rather get chased by Zuko over there than even think about the entire army ready to hunt me down in this nation. It's not really the type of welcome I enjoy."

"Speaking of which, I think your welcoming party is here."

Jessica's eyes followed the monk's arm to see where he was pointing up ahead.

"Oh dear lord…."

Dark shapes where rapidly multiplying over the horizon of the ocean they were flying towards. It must have been the ships patrolling the border earlier, for nothing else could have possibly reached them this quickly.

"I saw the sages send a messenger hawk while waiting for you to come out of that room, but I thought it was for notifying the Fire Lord. I had no idea they were calling an army to escort you," breathed Sokka in disbelief.

"I'm flattered. They shouldn't have." Jessica stood up and started pacing, but she kept finding herself glancing uneasily at the approaching armada. There were just so many ships. And each ship was filled with a crew of trained soldiers and catapults. The possibility of her spending the rest of her days in prison suddenly felt a lot more real.

"Can we go around them?" asked Aang.

The teenage boy shook his head and said it was too late for that.

"Any chance you could ask Roku to make another appearance?" Sokka suggested.

"You want me to just call him up in my mind and say 'Hey buddy! I got an army chasing after me. Any chance you could possess me for a few minutes and use your glowy powers to create a tsunami and wash them all away?" said Jessica, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Actually that would be pretty helpful."

"I was being sarcastic blubberbrain."

"Well, you need to at least try. Our only other option at this point is to fly through the storm," Sokka gestured at the ships, which were steadily growing larger.

Jessica sighed and sat crosslegged with her eyes scrunched shut. Everyone else went silent and stared at her. An agonizingly slow minute passed. Her eyebrows knotted together in concentration.

_Please Roku, _she begged in her mind._ You can't expect me to save the world if I get captured here._

But the universal forces that controlled her life were not that kind. All she heard was a faint echo of what he had told her in the spirit world.

_'Remember to learn to rely on your own strength and not that of the avatar state.'_

The gang drew back in surprise as Jessica suddenly jumped up and kicked the nearest object. Sokka found himself saving the same sleeping bag a second time that day from falling into the ocean. Realizing that she couldn't kick off their precious supplies Jessica resorted to repeatedly kicking the edge of Appa's saddle instead while she shouted loudly in the direction of the ocean.

"STUPID USELESS AVATAR ROKU!"

"Um..is she allowed to say that?" Aang whispered, making sure he was out of her view.

Katara shrugged, not sure anything could really shock her at this point.

"So I take it Roku won't be joining us for this particular occasion?" asked Sokka.

He drew back when Jesscia spun her head to scowl at him.

"We don't need him."

"We don't?"

"No," Jessica picked up the two staffs and tossed one to Aang. "We are going through that blockade. Sokka, lay out the plan."

It took him a moment to get what she had just said. He gave a quick cough.

"Right. A plan," he faced the Fire Navy. "They'll be attacking us with fire balls from their catapults. Katara will steer Appa through them. Aang and Jessica, you two use your airbending to keep off the ones she can't avoid. I'll be the eyes and tell you three what to do as it happens. Questions?"

But there was no time for questions, for it was at then that the first fireball soared right over them, close enough for its heat to draw sweat from their foreheads. They wasted no time. Katara hopped onto Appa's head to grab the reigns while the two airbenders stood at the sides of the saddle in fighting stances.

The first few came far enough apart that Katara was easily able to steer around them, but it wasn't long before all the ships were hurling projectiles in an effort to get them out of the skies. Sokka's eyes scanned back and forth, his mouth throwing directions at the others.

"Katara steer right. Aang send that one over us. Katara drop down now! Jessica hit that one with all you've got."

His focus did not waver for a second as he was forced to make quick decisions on the spot. Black dust and burning coal debris started to fill the air, turning their clothes gray. The four of them coughed and rubbed their eyes. A rock still on fire landed on him, forcing him to turn away his attention for precious seconds to pat it out. Sokka knew they couldn't keep this up much longer, but refused to let his worry show and continued the constant flow of commands. They'd gotten past most of the ships. Just a little bit farther and they could fly above the cloud line to escape before the ships had a chance to turn around.

"Katara, sharp left."

His sister obeyed, only to fly them right towards another fire ball that Sokka had failed to notice behind the previously avoided one. Before he could say anything though Aang shot over Katara and flew into the blaze foot first. The fire exploded and a cloud of smoke erupted in its place.

"Wow," Sokka whistled. "That was pretty sweet."

Jessica nodded in agreement, slightly dumbfounded. Then the ash cloud cleared and to her horror Aang was falling headfirst.

"He's not moving," Katara screamed. Peering over Appa's head in panic, the waterbender called out his name hysterically. "Aang! _AANG!_"

Everything after that happened so quickly, Jessica didn't even have time to think, just react. First Appa switched to a rapid almost vertical descent to follow after his unconscious master, with Sokka shrieking like girl as he hugged the side of the saddle.

His head turned upwards just in time to watch the avatar race to the edge of the saddle and dive into the smokey sky. The roaring wind stole his breath and caught the scream in his throat before it could tell her to stop.

"Wakeupwakeupwakeup!" Jessica said to herself as she dropped through the air like a pin, the rushing air tearing up her eyes. Unlike Appa, Jessica could let herself free fall and get to Aang faster.

She willed his eyes to open, but the airbender kept falling headfirst towards the rapidly approaching Fire Navy below.

One hand fell back and released an air blast so she could reach him. The opposite reached forward and grabbed Aang's wrist. Ignoring how much bigger the ships now looked; Jessica gripped his wrist with both hands and spun around midair. She swung her arms like a whip and released him when she faced the sky.

Appa was still twenty feet above them so she thrust her palms forward to propel the boy with air until Appa was low enough to duck under. Jessica spotted four hands reaching out to grab him before turning again and immediately sending out another column of air to cushion her just in time to roll onto the deck of a Fire Navy ship.

* * *

With a body that ached from the rough impact of landing, the avatar felt like curling up in a ball to fall asleep. She groaned and stood up shakily to find half a dozen soldiers frozen in place, probably still in shock under their skull masks. Jessica even spotted Zhao on the other side of the deck, his surprised face twisting into a grin that reminded her of a child on Christmas. Well, a deranged sociopath child that enjoyed burning off Barbie doll heads.

Unfortunately, men in the army could only stand in awe for so long. As the soldiers sunk into their fighting stances Jessica felt a jolt of panic coarse through her body.

But unlike previous times, this panic didn't make her freeze in place. Instead it caused her to swing her arms wildly in all directions, unleashing a continuous assault of air and fire against whatever happened to be within ten feet.

"Get away. Get away! GET AWAY!" she screamed until her throat turned raw.

Her mind, blinded over by the fear of capture, pumped adrenaline through her veins and sprung her exhausted body into action.

Unfortunately, as determined as she was to not get captured, Zhao was just as determined to capture her. Keeping his arms up to protect his face, the captain pushed forward towards the frantic young girl. Fear was a strong motivator, but he knew that this weak-looking teenager could only remain on the offensive for so long. Her attacks didn't even take much effort on his part to block.

He motioned for his soldiers to stay back, letting her waste the little strength she had so he could confront her with ease.

Less than a minute later the fire dwindled down to measly bursts and the churning air merely became a strong breeze. He found himself able to walk straight up to the almighty avatar as she came to her hands and knees. Panting heavily, she glanced up at his looming figure, her terrified expression contrasting to his malicious smile.

"The avatar landing right onto my ship. This must be my lucky day."

She couldn't even bring herself to glare at him. Witnessing her shaken form Zhao practically snickered at the intimidation he held over her.

"But it's not even luck is it? No, that would imply that I would need it," his piercing gold eyes bore into hers. "Who knew the avatar was nothing but a weak little girl? I almost feel bad for all the people putting their hope into a sniveling coward like you. What a letdown you are to them. The so-called savior of the world and you haven't even mastered airbending. Not to mention that your firebending skills match that of an untrained child."

In that moment Jessica truly felt that it was over. That it was all for nothing and she really was a letdown to the world.

Then, a shadow passed overhead. Jessica pretended to notice something behind Zhao and pointed dramatically, feigning surprise.

"Is that Prince Zuko? When did he grow a mustache?"

The firebender's head turned slightly. Jessica jumped up. Zhao's hand shot out and grabbed her arm tightly before she could run, but Jessica instantly smashed the bottom of her opposite palm into his nose. The self-defense trick was basically a reflex by now for her. He reached up to stop the blood gushing out of his nostrils.

"Toodles sideburns."

Realizing his mistake he ran after her with a bloody hand, but was only able to brush his fingertips on the end of her coat before she jumped overboard. The soldiers joined him to look over the railing in time to get swept back from the giant bison that soared straight over them. A few fire blasts were released and stunned men dashed towards the catapults, but Zhao knew it was too late. The kids had made it past the ships and it would take to long for them to turn around. He could only watch furiously as the avatar disappeared above the clouds.

* * *

"Well, I have no desire to repeat today's events ever again. You guys?" asked Sokka, who had taken over the steering.

Aang stifled a yawn. "Nah, I'm good."

"Yeah, flying through a storm of firey catapults is great fun and all," admitted Jessica sarcastically as she reached blindly around her for a sleeping bag. "But I've had by fill of adventure for now."

Sokka nodded. Then the two of them exchanged a quick look, where he smiled to let her know everything was ok between them. He wasn't mad anymore.

"What we need," he suggested and turned to face forward again. "Is a mini vacation. Let's just find a small village with no Fire Nation and some hot springs or something. I bet you know the perfect place Aang. How does that sound?"

Sokka waited to for the excited replies. Silence.

"Guys? Come on I thought that sounded like a pretty good idea."

He looked back to find his comrades out like a burnt torch. Jessica had apparently found the sleeping bags, but being too tired to exert the energy needed to open it she had pushed them all into a pile. The three of them lay back with Aang's head on Jessica's shoulder and Jessica's head laying on a balled up article of clothing atop the bald kid's head. Katara had her head on Aang's opposite shoulder, one of her arms hooked loosely around his.

Sokka grinned at his new family. He dropped the reigns.

"Appa just keep going till you reach land ok?" The bison growled in response but kept his course.

"Wait for me guys," he yawned as he crawled over to his sister and instantly conked out with the rest of them.

* * *

Well I hope you found it worth the wait. It got a bit serious with this chapter, so I'll try to make the next chapter a bit lighter with more humour. Also, Zuko will be returning in the next chapter or two!

One last question that I would like answered. Do you guys prefer shorter chapters posted more often or longer chapters like this posted less often? Let me know. If you want shorter chapters then I might switch to my old habit of doing those.


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